Catalyst
by MerrilyRoundtheBend
Summary: Post-Avengers, pre-Thor 2. A young mage carries the burden of nearly limitless power - power that she has a hard time controlling. Loki could hold the key to control, but what is the cost for bartering with the mad god of Asgard? Rated M for language, adult themes, later romance-type-things. Loki/OC. You've been warned.
1. Chapter 1

**I own nothing of Marvel's. The OC, however, is a brain-child of my poor, misbegotten imagination.**

Stark Tower. For all the money in the world, Tony Stark's amazing tech couldn't counter one thing... boredom. Loki lounged in his cell, divested of his armor and scepter. His neck and wrists were manacled by some Midgardian technology which drained his power. Though Loki couldn't quite figure out how the manacles drained his energy (yet), it quite adequately served to sever him from his magical abilities. Happily, Thor had bartered with SHIELD to get the muzzle off of his face, but while Loki was allowed to hear what happened outside his cell (which, unless someone came to deliver food, was nothing, as he had no visitors) no one was permitted to listen to him. More specifically, no one *wanted* to hear from him. His small cell was lined with thick, energy-charged material, providing visual access to him from all sides. The cell contained only Loki, his cot, and a very visible and in-no-way-could-he-ever-have privacy toilet area, furnished with a loo and a sink. Computers and video cameras watched his every move. Guards came by to drop off food in irregular intervals, and no doubt monitored his every move by camera.

Though he was the center of attention at Stark Tower, he has completely isolated. And bored.

He hated it.

Even now the twisted rage that had filled Loki's mind for months swirled through his thoughts. How dare they imprison him, a God, in such squalid manner? Tue, his plan to rule Midgard had been thwarted - quite painfully - by the "Avengers" (a stupid name, Loki sneered to himself) but this was not just cruel. They sought to torture him as well.

No, not the usual type of torture, with deliberate application of pain and attrition. No, they sought to break his mind. Stark piped in inane children's shows such as some monstrosities entitled Barney and Friends and Sesame Street. The reasoning, Stark said, was to instill some humanity into Loki. However, given the self-satisfied smirk on Stark's face when he explained his "entertainment" to Loki (through the energy-charged barrier, of course) Loki reasoned that this his torture... and it was. Oh, it was. Only Stark didn't realize that he was dealing with the Mad God of Asgard, and Loki embraced his madness gladly, tuning out the inanity of the children's shows with ease. He focused instead on his plans: with the Midgardian invasion a failure, the Other would be displeased. This displeasure often showed itself in unique, painful ways. Loki was determined not to allow that to happen again, so he plotted and planned.

A few days later, the shows abruptly stopped, and he was provided some reading material to while away his time. No one explained it, but Loki thought Thor had probably argued on his behalf again. It reminded Loki of his formative years on Asgard, when Thor would stick up for him. But rage continued to cloud his mind, overshadow his thoughts, and draw him further down the rabbit hole... into madness.

* * *

Rift was furious. Stark had slammed the door in her face. Again. She had finally, finally asked for help, and he refused her. Flat-out, no questions. A power problem the likes no one could solve, and he refused to speak to her. SHIELD had also recommended Dr. Banner, but after the incident in New York, he had taken another Sabbatical. So she was left with Stark, and he wouldn't talk to her. Her "magic-y mumbo-jumbo wasn't in his realm of science" (his words) so, well, sorry 'boutcha, here's the door.

As her anger swelled, her power surged, and Rift realized she'd have to ground herself again. That was her problem, her curse. Powerful raw energy flowed through her veins, but it was too much. Like a reactor constantly near critical, Rift's energy needed to be grounded - released - so that she wouldn't explode. And her episodes were becoming more frequent of late: years ago it had been once every few months, then every couple of weeks; now it was a once-daily occurrence at least. Even more when her emotions surged, like today.

Magic had always been a part of her life. Unfortunately, Rift was so powerful as a child that most teachers were afraid of her (a constant excuse was her "lack of control", but how could anyone learn control without a decent mentor...?) or wanted to use her power for their own gain. She'd finally found a few tutors brave enough (or foolhardy enough) to teach her the basics, and quickly donned Archmagi robes. But no one could have predicted how volatile her power was, and no one had a solution for her still ever-growing power. No one with her issue never survived to adulthood; how could they? Power accumulated from the very energy in the surroundings; it was EVERYWHERE. Forget to ground just once, or be overtaken with power, and the resulting explosion that would rival Chernobyl. The results were catastrophic. Rift knew this all too well.

It had happened to her more than once.

Usually, if a magic user lost control, they flamed out, causing damage to their surrounding area. The results were almost always fatal. Rift managed to survive three flameouts, through regeneration abilities and last-second dimensional hopping. No one was sure how she managed it, least of all her. But here she was, and her power was still growing exponentially.

And no one would help her.

She'd gone down the magic-users of her realm, but with numbers dwindling, there was no luck. She'd scoured all the available texts, but since her condition was extremely rare, there was little documentation power surges and their maintenance. The Magi coven went so far as to "help" Rift with experimentation. For months they drained her for their own use, and in so doing nearly ripped a hole in the fabric of time itself. The results had been disastrous - for the coven - once Rift had realized what they had planned. Her power was so damn useful to everyone but herself.

She'd been everywhere looking for answers, with little to show for it. She'd worked her way through magical charlatans, true magic-users, and moved up the ranks of the Gods themselves. (The Greek gods were her last hope, but they had grown so old and decrepit, all they remembered were "the good old days" and narcissism. Ah, the classics.)

Resigning herself, she'd tentatively requested help from SHIELD. She probably should have done it sooner. Cautiously she approached SHIELD through one of her friends, who returned with a list with two names. Dr. Bruce Banner. Tony Stark.

Useless. Effing useless. One stupid Stark lackey, who had answered the door to Stark's Tower, had managed to point out that the Avengers were busy with the clean up of New York, and no, they did not have time to see her. Obviously, if it were that important, she would have made an appointment, wouldn't she? Fantastic, but what happened if Rift had a critical moment in that very city? Didn't they understand the severity of the situation? Her unease, mixed with anger and frustration, weren't helping her control. Rift could feel the signs of an impending overload - her dark hair was swirling of it's own accord, and she felt surrounded by static electricity. The only thing that would help (aside from using a lot of energy immediately) would be to ground herself.

Frustrated, Rift teleported out to a vacant field in upstate New York. A quick scan let her know that no one was immediately in the area. Sighing, she sat down and released her energy into the ground. Her emotions calmed, and a sense of peace settled her mind. She knew it was temporary; energy accrual led to heightened emotions. Heightened emotions led to faster energy accrual. It was a vicious cycle.

Calmly, Rift re-evaluated her options. No one on this planet knew how to solve her issue. She'd looked everywhere. The Avengers were busy cleaning New York... the wheels in her mind started spinning. True, no one from THIS planet knew how to help her.

But maybe someone not from this realm did.

_**Author's Note:**_

**Hi guys. So, this is my first fanfic to publish… ever. I'm going to be releasing them on a weekly schedule (or attempt to) but I'll likely pop Chapter 2 up shortly, just to get things rolling. Reviews are welcomed, and I'll try to keep up with any questions or comments as best as I can.**

**I'm sticking roughly to the Marvel world, with some Norse cannon thrown in, but I reserve the right to go off the rails whenever I please, because I can.**

**I hope you enjoy the ride.**


	2. Chapter 2

**All of Marvel's characters are inherently Marvel's, and thus not my own. However, me and the OC go way back, so she's mine, all mine…!**

There wasn't any time to test the plan. No time, and even if it succeeded, that damn sentient tower would notice a signature anomaly. If the plan was to succeed, it would have to work on the first try.

Rift smiled in anticipation. This was going to be _fun_.

Standing down an alley, close by Stark's tower, she closed her eyes, and focused on mist. The feeling of it - the lightness of a wisp - the quiet, swirling path it traveled. Quicker than blinking, her form changed to a small cloud of mist. Rift smiled (or would have, if mist had lips and could smile - a thought which amused her), and cloaked herself in a quick sight/sound shield, as well.

Invisability? Check. Intangibility? Check.

Next was the trickier bit. Rift let her thoughts drift for a moment, onto other topics. Did she leave the car parked? Was it locked? Where were the keys again? What was the velocity of an unladen flying swallow? Sufficiently distracted, she reached out and forced a link to the ethereal plane. (Because one knows that the only way to plane-jump is not to focus on where you _want_ to go, but what you need to do. Plane-jumping was disgustingly easy to learn once she figured out how to correctly unfocus. Focusing all her energy on one plane of existence last led to some disastrous merging of one plane directly on top of another, and sorting that out had been a nightmare.)

Keeping one (metaphorical) foot in the ethereal plane and one in the current realm, she began moving to Stark's tower.

* * *

The guards had left his food tray a little over two hours ago. Loki had taken a couple bites; whomever Stark employed as chef was fairly handy. He'd given up on being able to test his food - his magical restraints were still on - but if it was poison they chose to use on him, he welcomed it. Loki figured that Odin must be relishing this, having him jailed so neatly. It was maddening.

So, too, was the sterility of his cell. The walls were all white - functional, but not aestetically pleasing. The air piped in was exceptionally clean.

Thankfully, Stark had redesigned his restraints: they still bound his magic, but they did not bind his arms together anymore. Instead, the two thin metal cuffs sat on his wrists, emitting a blue glow which (Loki assumed) meant that they were still functioning. If they weren't being used to manacle him, Loki would be impressed with the level of craftsmanship and ingenuity that created the bindings - it was still not as aesthetically pleasing, or advanced, as similar items in Asgard, but it was damn close. The shackles were able to bind him as Midgardian handcuffs as needed, but when left alone to his cell, there was no need.

As best Loki could figure, it had been close to twelve days since his attack on Midgard had failed. He had no windows, no timepiece, but the intervals at which food was provided allowed him some semblance of daily ritual. So, sometime after his early-morning breakfast had been thrown at him, and before his noonday meal, it came as a surprise when he noticed a wisp of mist start coalescing just inside of his cell.

* * *

Rift had finally found the detention area. She'd never been great with directions, and, well, not having a map or an idea where to go besides "somewhere in that Stark building" did make finding the cells difficult. Being in ethereal form made it harder, since everything in the material plane was fuzzy and indistinct. Thankfully solid objects weren't an issue, as she could pass right through them. There had been a few close calls: that is, if it were possible that she could have been seen, heard, or felt. She passed by the R&amp;D department of Stark Industries, where she could hazily see Dr. Banner studying some sort of gizwidget Stark had designed. At her passing, some of the sensors on the machine started going haywire (tech and magical energy didn't always play nicely together) but since the issues continued after her passing, Rift assumed it wasn't her presence that tripped the machine.

She'd seen Ms. Potts running through the building looking for the head of HR, and several SHIELD agents still perusing the hallways. It was SHIELD that finally led her to the detention area - she had followed a group down some twisting hallways and through several security checks before she found who she sought.

She watched him for only a few minutes. Loki, god of mischief and magic, would-be ruler of Earth, legendary narcissist, and all-around multi-universal pain-in-the-ass, was currently reading a book and picking at the remains of his blueberry pancakes. Even in captivity, his clothing and hair were still as immaculate as they looked on the footage she'd seen on the would-be invasion. However, the god still looked unhealthily pale, and his eye sockets were sunken-in with dark circles underneath.

When Rift finally moved closer, forcing herself through the barrier into his cell, Loki's eyes quickly flicked from the page he was reading right to the spot she was at, and back down. The quick acknowledgement of her presence startled her, but didn't surprise her. Loki was, after all, a god of magic for a reason. So Rift began to weave the glamour that allowed the cameras to still see Loki sitting quietly and only hear the turning of pages, she stepped out of the ethereal plane into the material, and began to coalesce back into her normal body in the corner of the cell.

"Careful, magelet. The ground has sensory triggers as well." Loki hissed, not moving his eyes from his book and barely moving his lips.

Still pulling the rest of the mist back in, Rift pointed to her feet, which were a good three inches off of the ground. "Got it covered, but thanks for the warning."

"Then I suppose me asking if you've cloaked this cell would be redundant?" Loki asked, finally putting his book down and looking at her. She noticed his eyes then: a dull mix of grey-green, filled with shadows of madness, despair... and rage, simmering just below the surface.

Her mind reeled at the powerful range of emotions lurking beneath the surface of the Asgardian, who still appeared as cool as a cucumber. Still distracted by the force of his rage, she blurted out her response without thinking. "Oh, ask all you want. I'm assuming this means they've got your magic trussed up somehow, right?" she asked, nodding towards the metal cuffs poking out of this jacket's sleeves.

Loki's gaze darkened, and he sneered at her. "Yes magelet," he hissed, spitting the words at her, "because if I did have access to my magic, I would not be stuck **here**." At this, he stood and threw his book at the cell's power barriers.

Rift threw her arm out, using her power to stop the book midair just before it hit the barrier: "Dammit! The texts said you were a 'mischievous trickster', not an outright dick!" She pulled the book towards her, and read the cover. "Huh. I'll be damned, maybe they do have a sense of humor after all. Who gave you this?" Rift pulled her legs up and sat down midair, opened the book, and started reading the first pages.

At this, Loki's demeanor instantly changed. His eyes lost some of their shadows, and the hint of a smirk ghosted his lips. "What, pray tell, is so amusing about _Hamlet_?" he asked, innocently. "A play written by Midgard's most highly lauded playwright about the distrust and downfall of an entire monarchy due to lies and deception. I can not_imagine_ why you find this so funny." He started to quietly move towards her then, but Rift looked up from the book, cocked her head, and pointed at Loki's feet.

"Sensors in the ground, right?" she asked.

Loki rolled his eyes. Powerful, this little magelet was, but dense, too. "Yes, magelet. There are sensors in the ground to track my every movement."

She closed the book, and then closed her eyes. "What is the delay on the camera?"

"None, as far as I can determine. They've somehow decided telling me any information about it would be unwise. I should think that..."

"Loki!" Rift cut in. "Look at your feet!"

Loki looked down. His feet were as they always were, at the end of his legs, and currently covered in thin black socks. He looked back up at her and cocked one eyebrow.

"I've modified the glamour to follow your body moving, but there was a delay of thirty seconds - you stood, but the cameras saw you on the bed. I'm hoping that this won't be caught..."

Just as the words left her mouth, the entrance to the detention area hissed open.

"Shit."

**Ok, I stink at waiting. Here's Chapter 2. Read, review, enjoy… but not in that order.**


	3. Chapter 3

**In all fairness, all I own from this is the OC and the story. The Marvel characters are Marvel's, much to my chagrin.**

ShitshitshitshitshitshitSHIT DAMN THAT GORRAM LOKI!

Rift had only a moment to decide what to do. Her first thought was that she needed more time, so she reached out, and time stopped. Just one quick stop, and only for the floor she was on, but it was enough time for her to cloak herself again in the same sight/sound shields. Her next step was to put the book back onto Loki's bed, so she passed by Loki (Did his eyes follow her while the time was stopped? Was his smirk a little deeper? She thought she saw it, but couldn't be sure.) and set the book down under the food tray that still held scraps of blueberry pancake. Coverup complete, she distracted herself again (How does he fix his hair like that? He doesn't have any magic, or product, or a hairbrush. Why can't *my* hair be that easy to tame?) released the time spell, put a foot back into the ethereal plane, and began the to implement her first backup plan.

Tony Stark strode into the room flanked by two SHIELD flunkies.

"Ok, Reindeer Games. What the hell is going on with my building?" He started pacing back-and-forth in front of the front barrier.

Loki looked up at the "Iron Man". "Whatever could you be talking about, Stark?" he asked.

"Don't play games with me. What's with all the power fluctuations? The whole building's been jumping power spikes all morning long. And it's no coincidence," Stark leveled a glare at Loki, "that you're here when it happens."

_Sir,_ Jarvis intoned, _I'm registering more power anomalies on the second, thirteenth, and fourty-sixth floors. Additionally, Ms. Potts would like you to know that they've found a unicorn in the ladies' room on twelve, and, _the disembodied voice paused a moment,_ Dr. Banner seems to have disappeared._

Stark's eyes narrowed a fraction, and he flicked his eyes toward the nearest security panel. "Jarvis, have there been any issues with our guest this morning?"

_No sir._

"Keep an eye on him. You two," Stark pointed at the SHIELD flunkies, "do NOT let him out of your sight. I'm going to go sort this damn thing out." As he headed for the door, Stark turned back to Loki. "And you. If I find out that you're behind all this, I don't care what interstellar diplomatic immunity your brother claims you still have, I will lock the Hulk into that cell with you and leave him there all night long. Pleasant dreams, Reindeer Games." With that, Stark strode out, barking orders to Jarvis.

Loki gently sat down on his bed, leaned his back up against the wall, and smiled. _Ah, chaos. This was how to wake up in the morning._

* * *

Rift rubbed her hands back and forth. It had been only about thirty minutes since Stark left, but it was time for Phase II of her plan. She put herself fully into the material plane and called out softly, "Loki."

For his part, he didn't move a muscle at her voice. His head was still back against the wall in the same place it had been thirty minutes ago, as though he had fallen asleep sitting up.

"Loki, sight and sound shields are up again. We don't have a lot of time, and I need your help. Please."

Loki sighed, and cracked his neck. Still without looking at her, he asked, "What, magelet? What could I, the imprisoned Mad God of Asgard, possibly be able to help you with?" His voice dripped with anger now, and he held himself as rigid as stone.

"Please. No one else will help me. No one else can help me." Rift implored. She maneuvered herself into his line of vision. "You're the Asgardian God of Magic... among other things." Rift felt her hair start moving again, felt the static start dancing on her skin, and looked down at her feet. Without consciously thinking she hugged herself tightly, preparing for the inevitable rejection. "I can't control it." she whispered. "The magic. This power. I can't control it, and it burns."

Loki snorted. "What, a Midgardian with that much power? Do not mock me, girl. You have no idea what real power is. You've got talent, and enough power to set Stark's building into a flurry. But that shouldn't be enough to burn you out..." Loki looked up at the last, and finally really looked at the girl.

Dressed in jeans, sneakers and an oversized t-shirt, at first glance she looked like many of the teenage urchins that littered this city. She was tall for a Midgardian he supposed, and thin. The jeans and t-shirt she wore hung off of her frame. Her hair, which he initially took to be a straight hank of mousey brown, was brown layered with copper and dark red hues, and was currently moving of it's own accord... along with what could only be a plethora of magical energy dancing along her skin, highlighting her pale skin in vibrant blue. That much energy, in that tiny body... "You're going to burn out." Loki said incredulously, without a hint of sarcasm or malice.

"Not yet. At least, I hope not. It's not comfortable." she replied, and looked up at him through her hair.

Loki snorted. "Not comfortable? Yes, I can imagine a fiery death is quite uncomfortable, magelet."

"Hasn't killed me yet." Loki's eyebrows shot up, but she continued. "I need help." Rift's voice grew stronger, and she brushed the hair from her eyes. She took a deep breath, and looked directly into Loki's eyes. "I need control. You need to get out of here. I propose an agreement: I get you out of here, and you help me learn control over this." She waved her hand at herself, indicating the dancing blue flames.

"You would barter with the trickster God just to learn magic?" Loki scoffed.

"Obviously. I'm doing so now, aren't i?" she smiled tentatively.

"True. What a pity that I am shackled to this cell. I'm assuming you mean to release me from this captivity? And once I am out, if you can manage it, what's to stop me from leaving?"

"Your word." Rift replied, still looking into his eyes.

Loki choked. "Then you are more of a fool than I thought."

"It's possible. But I'll run that risk."

Loki paused and turned away, hiding a smile. "No deal."

"... what?"

"I said no deal, little magelet. Your hearing must really be suffering. Is it the magic you are attempting to use, or are you normally this dense?"

"My hearing is fine," she seethed, "I just don't comprehend idiot well. Ok then, shall I leave you here to die of boredom before being carted off to Asgard for eternal sentencing?" As she spoke, her hair started moving wildly again, and blue flames sparked off of her fingertips.

"Oh dear, magelet. Not even willing to bargain?" Loki tutted. "Then I shall make the next offer. You get us out of this... tiresome situation... and then I shall mentor you in control. If," he paused again, and glanced at her sideways "if you agree that you owe me one favor of my choosing, to be used at a later date."

This time, Rift paused. She had basically dropped out of thin air into his cell and tried to get him to mentor her. She knew he'd try to take it too far (being, well, the God of Mischief... and Trickery... and Lies) but it was hard to anticipate bargaining with someone you've never met before. As she considered, she started idly flicking her fingers, causing small rainbows of fireworks to pop of to the side.

Loki realized with a start that this was a normal offset of extra energy. Normally an extra energy surge could be countered in two ways, by grounding or by expending energy. The amount of energy the girl was currently expending was tremendous, so how was it possible to continue to have an energy buildup? He counted off the current tasks the girl was creating: the multi-leveled illusions and traps spread throughout Stark's building (Loki smirked at the thought of Stark tearing apart his precious edifice due to simple illusions), the sight and sound shielding of the cell they both currently inhabited (not to mention her initial entrance thereof), the masking of internal pressure sensors on the floor, and the neat flotation trick she had running. In all, these were all spells which a team of magic users would be taxed to continue to run, both in energy and concentration. Not only was this girl able to work the spells to do it singlehandedly, but it appeared that she was still generating raw magical power. It was impossible. It was extraordinary. It was also incredibly useful. The beginnings of a plan began to form in the dark recesses of Loki's mind.

"I accept – with conditions."

Startled out of his quiet reverie, Loki smoothed he shirt down before turning back to face the girl. "And what might those be, magelet?" he asked smoothly.

Rift lifted her hand to list them off, belatedly realizing she was flicking sparks onto the floor. "Oops, sorry." She sniffed, shook her hands out, and started over. "One, the favor is to be collected after my training. Two, it will not directly or indirectly, harm another living being that you are aware of. Three, I have final say if the favor is viable. If it is not, you will have to name another favor." Rift raised an eyebrow. "Do we have a deal?"

Loki grinned wolfishly at her. "Yes, magelet. I believe we do."

* * *

_**Author's Note**_**: Hey everyone. Hope you're enjoying this so far. I mentioned earlier I'm new to this (sorry) so figuring out the formatting is taking more time than I'd like. That said, I've updated chapters 1 &amp; 2 (mostly not content, just formatting) so that they flow better. If you'd like to re-read, please do so. And review at large.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I do not own Marvel's characters. I'm only borrowing them. **

**I *do* own this story and the OC though, so that's something.**

* * *

_Getting out should be easy, right?_ Rift reminded herself. The second hurdle in her plan – getting a quirky god to agree to an arrangement which suited the both of them - was done. Now, to Phase III: Escape from Stark Tower.

Rift's eyes closed for a moment. Second later, the alarms started to sound throughout the building. Loki glanced at that the guards, who were still watching the illusion the magelet had laid before them. At the sound of the alarms they stiffened and one of them (the agents looked damn near identical, so it was hard to tell who was who) laid an uneasy hand near their weapon holster. The building shook for a moment with the sound of a muffled explosion.

_"All personnel is politely requested to leave the building in an orderly fashion."_ Jarvis intoned over the main speakers.

Smiling, Rift asked, "Do you think they'll bother evacuating you?"

Another, smaller explosion rocked the building, followed by the sound of shouting, and Loki shrugged. "Would you rescue your prisoner of war first or last, little magelet?"

She stopped. "Neither, I suppose. I have no need for prisoners." Loki stopped for a moment, and then chuckled. Rift smiled again, and pulled out a large lump of seamless grey clay from her pocket. "Do you know what this is?"

"Am I supposed to guess now at what lurks in the dark recesses of your pockets?"

"It's simulacrum clay. It's quite neat actually." She started kneading the clay, pouring energy into the small, shapeless lump. She then released it, letting it float in between Loki and herself. "If you allow it, it will take the likeness of a person or thing. I've figured out how to activate it so that it will move and sound like you. It doesn't work long, only a week or so, but that gives us enough time to get a head start." Wiping her hands, she looked up and assessed Loki. "You'll need to touch it to activate it."

"So you intend to fool them with a golem? Impressive, little one." He stood and began to circle the hovering lump, eyeing it as it began to grow into a rough hominid shape. "But how will it know how I would speak and react?"

"If you'll allow it, I'd put a psychic link on you with the golem. It doesn't take but a few seconds, and all it will do is take a quick imprint of your personality. I haven't figured out how to make that part stick." she said, becoming frustrated. "It fades over several days. Hopefully, they'll just think you're sick from the attacks or something."

Loki's eyes narrowed and his face darkened. He glared down at his wrists, where the glowing blue light still shone brightly, an irritating, constant reminder of his bound magic. "You realize, magelet, if I was not in these bonds..."

"You'd be able to do this yourself." Rift interrupted. She ignored the angry glare directed at her, and continued, "But you are, and you can't. It sucks. So I can override them and boost the link, and then we will work on taking them off once we break free, or we can just boost you out and hope for the best. Your call." She started to look at her nails (they were quite raggedy), and feigned indifference at his answer. "Just realize, I can't take them off. Your hands could be blown to bits with the energy I'd throw at those bonds to break them, and I'm sure you're partial to them... your hands, I mean, not the manacles."

Sounds of fighting started filtering through the doors. Shouting coupled with small explosions and gunfire were getting closer to where the holding cell.

Muttering under his breath, Loki shrugged. "Let's get this over with."

This time, it was Rift's turn to grin happily, with a slight hint of mania twinkling in her eyes. "Oh good! I've always wanted to try this on someone else."

* * *

Many, many minutes later...

"What. In. Helheim."

"I did say sorry, didn't I?"

"..."

"Well, again. Sorry. But the golem worked perfectly!"

"..."

"Ok, well, hush and rest. I've almost got us to the car. And stop glaring at me, I can feel it even in the ethereal plane."

* * *

Stepping back into the material plane with Loki, Rift started shaking. Really, she'd started once they stepped out of the material plane, but it was harder to notice since _everything_ was a little off-balance in the ethereal plane. She ended up pulling herself and Loki back into the material plane a little harder than she'd intended, and ended up throwing herself and the Loki onto the ground.

Luckily, they landed on soft grass. Well, Rift did. Loki landed on a soft Rift, which was lucky for him (still suffering from the wallop of psychic transfer to the golem and an immediate pull into the ethereal plane thereafter), but unlucky for Rift. Supporting several hundred pounds of moderately pissy god, shaking, and exhausted, Rift found herself doing the only natural thing possible: she passed out.

* * *

Loki groaned, and began to extricate himself off of the soft, slightly bumpy pillow he'd managed to land on in the middle of a grassy field. _At least the magelet thought to provide some cushioning,_ he thought, before he looked down at the cushion provided. Sprawled beneath him was not the same magelet he'd seen earlier. Oh, the hair was the same deep brown with copper streaks, and the pale skin was the same, but that's where the similarities ended - the glamour she must have cast upon herself had vanished. Instead of a teenager, a young woman lay on the ground dressed in black pants, boots, and a well-fit t-shirt covered by a dark jacket. She was flush with a woman's curves and a woman's unconscious, shaking body...

Wait, unconscious? Shaking?

Swearing some of the more heinous curses he knew, Loki bent down to examine the magelet closer. The tremors shook her arms and legs sporadically. Her eyes were tightly closed, and her breaths were coming out in sharp, staccato pants. He'd seen this before - even experienced it himself once. Burning too much energy in too short a span took a toll on the vessel channeling the energy. The body was a conduit, but it was fragile, and could easily burn out without enough fuel to keep up with the energy transfer. She needed a healer soon, or she would die.

Loki stopped to consider this for a moment. Though the magelet's death would release him from his promise neatly, it would crimp his plans otherwise. Her energy was useful, and she made him smile for the first time since... his brain told him since before he let go of the Rainbow Bridge, but he knew it couldn't be true. He'd smiled since then surely, and anyways such things were unimportant. Plus, it would be horribly dishonorable to allow her to expire after she'd spent so much energy breaking him out of jail with the Avengers (snort) none-the-wiser. He picked up her still-unconscious twitching body and looked around, considering his options.

They had landed in a grassy field, with a road only barely visible on the farthest hill. There were few trees for shade. On the second look around Loki spotted a rustbucket machine (by looks, it did not qualify as a car) nestled in the shade under one tree. It was missing at least one wheel, a few doors, and it's hood for good measure. However, the magelet had mentioned a car, and this thing was the only one around. Taking a chance, Loki readjusted the unconscious burden in his arms and ran towards it.

* * *

Up close, the car was in worse condition than it was from afar. The front seats were torn open, likely by some local wildlife. There was no motor in the engine compartment - or any other mechanical inner workings- which was easy to see as the hood was propped up on the front fender. All three of the tires were flat as boards. The only secure bit about the car was the boot, which appeared to be rusted shut. After gently setting the magelet down in the passenger seat and checking her over again, Loki ran his hands through his hair and threw himself into the driver's seat, wishing (for the thousandth time, this hour) that Stark had not designed the accursed bonds on his wrist.

Tapping on the steering wheel while considering his options, Loki noticed the dials on the dash were blank. There were no markings to be found; instead, the glass was opaque on all three dials. He lightly stroked the glass on the middle dial, and chuckled when he found it soft. "Clever girl." He murmured, and stroked the glass again. Every stroke sent a small electric shock to his wrist, but he paid it little heed. The glass had the consistency of gel. Definitely not meant for someone to go through he realized, but a small portal of some sort. A means of communication, maybe?

"Oi! No need to bother about sending me any messages for the past few days, right? I mean, not like I'm stuck here with you out gallivanting around!" A woman's voice carried shrilly through the glass. "And stop stroking the damn mirror, I see you already, what on earth do you need now?!"

Irritated, Loki cleared his throat. "Apologies, madam. But I am with a certain... mage... who is currently convulsing in this... car." He looked over, and the magelet's shivering had grown worse, and a sheen of sweat had formed on her face. "She needs help, and quickly."

"Shit. She pulled the time energy again, din't she?" The voice asked. Losing the shrill tone, the woman's voice continued: "Look in the glove box. Open it from the bottom. There should be a box, and something of a necklace in there. Careful though, it's heavier than it looks."

Leaning over the convulsing woman, Loki did as he was instructed. Reaching under the glove box, he pulled on a small, protruding metal handle. With a small _click_, a dark, finely-polished wooden box slid down to his waiting hand almost silently, nearly hitting the magelet's twitching feet. He pulled it into his lap and opened it, finding a silver chain with a large, finely-cut clear stone attached. The stone pulsed with light weakly, in sync with the seizing magelet. "Yes, now what?" Loki struggled to keep the irritation out of his voice, since he assumed the disembodied voice was doing its best to help.

"Put in on her. If you can't get it around her neck, put it in her hand. It works the same, but she might drop it."

Loki rolled his eyes, and leaned over the magelet to fasten the jewelry around her neck. He had to hold her down to put the necklace around her neck, as her spasms were increasing in strength. He held his breath, but once the necklace was around the magelet's neck the clasp slid itself closed with a soft snap and the large, clear stone began to glow steadily. Her body began to stop twitching, and her back slowly began to relax. Loki placed a hand on her neck, just below her jaw, and felt her pulse and breathing return to normal. He brushed the hair back from her eyes, then settled back into his seat quietly. He kept an eye on the magelet, but couldn't help opening his mouth again.

"I'm going to regret asking, but what was that?"

"Hmph. No telling the likes of you. You're that god she was after, yeah?"

"Unless there was a different one, then yes." Loki started to make another smart comment, but stopped. How many gods had she talked to, before him?

"Then you'll know soon enough, I imagine. Prob'ly burnt herself out again, poor thing. Told her to stop messin' with that time magic. Nasty stuff." The voice paused for a moment. "Just sit tight. She'll be up-and-running again soon. That stone there will keep things calm for a bit. And tell her not to forget the bloody pomegranates this time. Ain't dealing with her nonsense 'bout it again." With that, the reflective gel sat silent. Loki knew a dismissal when he heard one.

Looking over at the magelet again, Loki reassured himself again that she was indeed improving. Her breathing was deep and calm. Her eyes were closed, but she appeared to be sleeping now, nothing more. A hint of a smile graced her lips, and she turned to the side in her seat towards Loki, still sleeping.

Deciding that nothing more would be happening soon, Loki leaned back in the seat, considering his options.

He hated waiting.

* * *

_**Author's Note:**_

**Hey everyone. I hope you're enjoying this so far! I've got most of the next chapter already done. Huzzah! And as for the posting-like-crazy, I'm just crazy excited for the next _Avengers_ coming out, that I'm trying to post a ton now to make up for what (could be) a break for a week while I absorb the awesome.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Things I own: my worldly possessions. The OC of this story. This story. An unhealthy amount of geeky bobbleheads. Normal stuff.**

**Things I (sadly) do NOT own: Marvel, Marvel characters, Loki, Movie Marvel characters, The Avengers, the unnamed actor who plays Loki, sanity... you get the gist.**

* * *

A warm breeze stirred her hair. The same breeze rustled the long grass nearby, and gently shook the leaves overhead, making the sunlight dance across her eyelids. Birds were chirping in the distance. The air was fresh and sweet, and the pastoral sounds of a nearby field quietly filtered into her consciousness. The bed she was laying on was warm, and the pillow was soft and deliciously comfortable. Rift burrowed further into it, not quite ready to fully rouse herself.

"Hmmmm..."

Wait. Did pillows hum? Pillows weren't supposed to hum. Were they?

"Are you awake, magelet?" the pillow asked quietly.

Oh damn. The pillow was talking. And it sounded like Loki.

"Not 'wake. Go 'way." she mumbled into the pillow.

The pillow shook. As she reminded herself that pillows absolutely did not chuckle, it spoke again. "I'm afraid that's a bit impossible, as you are not just laying on my arm, but have it in quite a firm grip."

"Pillows don't talk. Hush. Sleeping."

"While I do find the prospect of a nap in this car, surrounded by a quiet field surprisingly enjoyable, I am afraid we must get moving soon." The pillow sounded sincerely regretful, which was weird, since the pillow also sounded like Loki, who was never sincere or regretful as far as Rift knew.

"Mmmph."

"When did you last sleep, magelet?" The Loki/pillow persisted on talking. Fine. She'd keep responding, but that wouldn't keep the Loki/pillow safe from harm if it continued.

"Dunno. Couple days... week... maybe?"

The following derisive snort confirmed that it was definitely Loki she was laying on, and not a pillow. Well, crud. His arm's fault for being so soft and warm.

"What keeps your mind going, I wonder, little magelet?"

Oh, that was an easy one. "Caffeine. Freaking awesome stuff." Rift resigned herself to consciousness, stretched as far as the interior of the car would allow and let out a massive yawn. Turning to Loki, she asked, "How long have I been out?" She would later realize that turning to Loki was probably a mistake. The peaceful setting allowed her to see what Loki looked like when he relaxed. His face was unguarded as he reclined in the driver's seat, his hair slightly mussed from laying back. He'd rolled his sleeves up at some point, and his right arm was still extended to her seat - she still had a hand on it to support herself - while his left arm was propped up by the open driver's side window. His long, lean frame filled the driver's seat, and even slightly reclined his head still brushed the ceiling. She realized with a start that when he relaxed he looked... younger, less troubled, maybe. Sill mischievous, still dangerous, but without the anger and tension that usually tightened his eyes and pulled at his body he seemed oddly approachable. Cuddly, even, if her appropriation of his arm was any indication.

His green eyes looked at hers carefully, then traveled her body. _Crap. I look like hammered dung, I've passed out for who-knows-how-long, and the god I finagled into helping me is now worried that I will pass out on him again. Or explode. Dandy._She looked away from him to the front of the car, and saw the sun going lower in the sky blanketing the field in a golden glow.

"As near as I can tell, you've been out for a handful of hours. It was quite an expenditure of power you did at Stark's Magnificent Edifice of Narcissism." His mood shifted quickly from calm to glowering, and his eyes bored into the side of her head. "Even as young as you are, you should be aware of your limits. A magelet with your capacity has to know what the consequences are if you foolishly ignore them."

Rift's body stiffened. Anger and fear tore through her, worrying at her mind and immobilizing her body. She knew Loki was right. She had heard this spiel before from anyone brave (or stupid) enough to try lecturing her. And while the reminders never failed to rile her up, Loki's words briefly tore through the barrier against the worry, fear, and anger that she held deep. Taking a few desperately needed deep breaths, she put on the calmest front she could, and responded. "I know what happens, Loki; I'm not an idiot." Her attempt to sound calm just made her voice wooden and hollow, but it was better than screaming, she supposed.

"Then why bother?" Loki sat up straight in the seat, and turned his body to face her full on. "Why push yourself so far, take on Tony Stark and his compatriots and indebt yourself to me? Surely there must be _someone_willing to tutor you, little magelet."

Rift's voice was barely over a whisper when she finally responded to him. "I found a few. Some helped as they could. But the last tutors I had... died." Her hair coiled tightly around her head as she continued, "I killed them."

* * *

The swirling morass of pain and betrayal and anger that had eaten at Loki for so long had suddenly subsided in the past few hours. He was beginning to think clearly again, to feel himself again. It was freeing, liberating. _Fun_. And it was all due to the intriguing little magelet before him.

She was an interesting puzzle. How could a Midgardian possess so much raw power? Her body fairly hummed with energy - his arm still tingled from when she lay on while unconscious. Power generation like hers was rare in Asgard, though likely more prevalent in Vanaheim. He remembered a story his mother Frigga had told him of her homeland when he first began studying magic in earnest. It was a cautionary tale of a similar magic-user, told to him should he try to take on more than he could handle. At the end of the story the magic-user committed suicide after seeing the absolute destruction wrought in a moment of distraction. "Too much power in the hands of one single soul is a large burden to carry." Loki had never really understood Frigga's warning until now. This magelet (he really must remember to ask her name, time spent being tortured by the Other and held by the Avengers had done nothing for his manners) carried her burden remarkably well, but he could see the toll it took on her.

He contemplated how to proceed. He knew he needed her trust to be able to carry out his plans and keep the Avengers off of his trail long enough to see them to fruition. There was also the ever-growing concern that her power really _was_ extremely unstable and could do him some serious harm. She was radiating tension from her body now, and she seemed...

Scared. Alone. Afraid. _Vulnerable._

He knew those feelings. More importantly, he knew how useful they could be. This girl had to be truly desperate to seek him out. Desperation could be an effective, vicious tool.

After the revelation of his Jotun heritage, Loki knew he was truly a monster. In his fury he lashed out at Thor, at Odin, at Asgard itself. Rage took hold of his senses and he fell into a black abyss of self-loathing and misery. The incident at the Rainbow Bridge, his last clear memory before New York, still twisted a cold knife of disgust in his gut.

The Other had found him floating in the black nothingness some time later, but not before his mind had completely broken. They had healed his body and abused his already broken mind, turning him into a cruel instrument in servitude to Thanos. The Other burnt reminders of Loki's subjugation into his skin, his mind, his body... Loki shuddered, his mind still shying away from the details. He only vaguely remembered what it was to be in the hands of the Other. He could only recall two things clearly: pain, and terror.

But what could scare someone with virtually unlimited power enough to hunt him down? A monster, now equally reviled by Asgard and Midgard alike, who had nearly caused her home to be dominated and destroyed?

She turned back to him. "If you want to go, I can understand."

What? Why would he...?

She was scared for him. This grown waif was trying to shield _him_ from _her_. The very thought was almost laughable but... not that he would ever say it aloud, but if he was completely honest (as the Asgardian God of Lies, he could never truly be dishonest with himself) he would admit that he was just a little unsettled.

However, he gave his word to her. Oaths were a matter of grave importance. Sure, that great oaf Thor promised fair maidens great feats of strength, or landowners long happy success in their livelihood, or such nonsense. Thor's word was given at nearly every opportunity. It was not that Thor had ever truly broken any promises, but he swore oaths to anyone, and had done so _so much_ that it had lost any true meaning. Loki preferred to let people infer his allegiance rather than outright swearing it, so that he would have certain flexibilities if events soured. His word, once given, was indeed a matter of honor and pride. He had only been forsworn once, and had never done it again.

He wondered if the magelet knew the significance of his words?

Knowing only that this amusing little mage had caused him the most fun he'd had in ages, he decided to ease her mind.

Chuckling, he said quietly, "Little mage, did you think you could scare me off with your tales of woe? Of _course_ you have had some... mishaps... in control. But is that not why you decided to expend your energies to the brink, to come find yourself a credible tutor?" He smirked, and continued: "I have never taken on a pupil before, magelet, but you have certainly caught my attention."

She sniffed and slowly turned back to him, sporting a watery smile, her grey eyes still cloudy. "Are you sure? Our next bit is harder to get out of, if you would like to bail now..."

"Did I mention how tedious repetition is, magelet?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Nope, not yet. Did I mention how tedious being patronized is?" She quipped, doing her best imitation of him.

Loki raised an eyebrow.

"Fine, no more impressions. But we need to switch seats to get going."

At this, Loki got out of his seat and moved to the passenger side, holding a hand out to help her up. "My lady?"

* * *

_Holy crap._ Had anyone explained "personal bubble" to him?

But as she looked up at him, all her words stayed glued to the tip of her tongue. Timidly she slid her hand into his and allowed him to help her to stand up. Standing right next to him in the field, with her hand still in his and the rapidly setting sun casting a golden glow, she said the only thing that popped into her head.

"Rift."

Loki cocked his eyebrow. "Pardon?"

"My name. It's Rift." she felt clumsy restating it, and unsure how to move her hand away from his, when he began to lift it up to his lips.

"Rift..." he said quietly, lightly kissed the top of her knuckles, and looked back up into her eyes. "It is definitely a pleasure to meet you."

"Oh. Uhm, yes. You too. I think." Rift looked down and pulled her hand away. She tried to walk over to the other side of the car as calmly as possible - running would be cowardly, she told herself - and sat down. Mentally running through the checklist of supplies she needed before they left (Cereal? Check. Eggs? Toilet paper? Blueberries? Check Check Check. Possibly Psychotic Ousted Prince of Asgard? Check.)

"Oh shit, I forgot the pomegranates!"

"Sorry?"

"Pomegranates. Cassandra will kill me." Bursting out of the car like a scalded cat, she ran to the boot of the car and waved her hand over it, muttering to herself. It creaked open and she dove in headfirst, throwing things out left and right. Loki watched on with humor as she was screaming insensibly in an impossibly overstuffed car boot. He moved as close as he dared (but still sensibly out of range), leaned against the rear fender, and asked as nonchalantly as possible, "Did you possibly forget to bring something?"

He heard a solid **thunk** and a muffled curse. Rift pulled herself out, and sat dejectedly on the edge of the bumper of the rusted out hunk of metal. "No. Maybe. A bit. I may have told Cass that I'd get more pomegranates while I was out, and I forgot. Again." She rubbed her head, frowning. "She may kill me."

"And who is the fearsome Cassandra who chills the heart of the dreaded Mage of the Rusted Automobile in the Field?"

Rift glared at him. "My friend."

"Well then. Can you not just conjure her a pomegranate tree?" Loki asked, curious.

She snorted. "Doesn't work that way. I try for a tree, I get a forest. And then Cassandra..." her voice trailed off, and she started shaking her head. "It wouldn't work. But we're out of time, we've got to get moving." She looked around at the avalanche of car detritus she'd thrown from the boot. "Crap." With a subtle wave of her hand, the objects all levitated and began hurling themselves back into the boot. She managed to slow down the eggs and blueberries, but the bread wasn't so lucky. "Well, funky shaped sandwiches taste better anyways." she muttered, and got herself and Loki seated back into the car.

"Ready?"

"As I ever was."

Rift snorted again, and chose to swallow her retort this time. Clutching the still-glowing stone around her neck, Rift whispered a few words. A pulse of energy jolted through the car. As Loki watched, the car began to peel back the rusted, broken-down facade. The seats began to mend themselves, the stuffing filling and knitting back together. The doors flew from behind the tree and reattached themselves with a metallic clang, along with the hood of the car. The rust flaked off the exterior onto the ground, revealing chrome bumpers and clean, unmarred black paint, and Loki felt the tires reinflate... all four of them.

Leaning forward, Rift pulled the seat up to where she could comfortably reach the pedals, readjusted the mirror, and buckled herself in. "Buckle up." she said, and pushed hard on the dial that Loki had touched earlier.

"Cass, you there?"

"Yeah, girlie. I'm here. You back among the living again?"

"Yeah. We'll be there soon... Hey, uh, Cass?"

"You forgot the pomegranates?"

"... I may have forgotten the pomegranates."

A sigh filled the car. "S'all right girlie. Just get here safe."

"See you Cass."

Grinning now, Rift put her hands on the steering wheel. "All right, baby. Let's show 'em what we've got." The car began humming, and the clear jewel began to glow brightly again. Loki tensed, expecting the car to take off like a jet, but the car began slowly rolling forwards.

"Not what you were expecting for a jailbreak, I suppose?" Rift asked, looking at him sideways, and stopping the car.

"Not quite." he replied. "However, today is just full of surprises."

"Hm. Welp, hold onto your butts..." she glanced over at him, and noted his confused look. "Sorry. Forgot that there's no _Jurassic Park_ where you're from. Let's just say the actor who said that line is the ultimate badass."

Smiling, she lifted her right hand and three glowing blue portals popped up in the field - one to the north, one behind just behind the tree, and one to the south. Then she created two mirror images of their car and drove them into the portals behind the tree and to the south. The portals closed as soon as the mirror-image cars traveled through. Glancing at Loki, she said "If anyone starts tracking us, I like to give them options. Always leave them guessing." and she gently put her foot onto the gas, moving their car into the portal to the north and leaving the peaceful field behind.

**_Author's Note_:**

**Holy crapadoodle, this chapter was hard to write. Write, edit, write, edit, write. And I'm still not completely happy with it, but it's done and out there and so... yeah! (Banner wasn't kidding in ****_Avengers _when he said Loki's mind was a bag of cats... Diagrams were made here, people. Diagrams. Were. Made.)**

**I'm gonna apologize, there wasn't a lot of action in this one, but it seemed important to start hashing out some character-type-things here. However, I will say there is some Avenger-action in the next chapter, so please stay tuned!**

**Aaaaand as always, please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys! Quick note – this chapter is almost 100% Loki-free. Also I'm a bit of a Marvel geek, and friends with more Marvel geeks, so I had to throw in a few random cameos where I could.**

**And as always, I own 0.0% of Marvel or anything of their characters. Just me, the OC, and this story. It's how we roll, yo.**

* * *

_-Stark Tower-_

"Jarvis, status report."

_Sir, it appears that all of the electronic anomalies have disappeared_. _All non-essential personnel evacuated the building safely. Ms. Potts has also checked into a suite at the NoMad Hotel down the street until everything has settled down._

"Any idea what started this mess?"

_No, sir, but I am currently running a trace algorithm of the power spikes that preceded each attack._

"Excellent. What about our current guest of honor? Is he still tucked in his spacious accommodations?"

_Loki is still in his holding cell, sir._

"Good. Keep him that way."

_Yes sir._

Striding down the glass stairway to his laboratory, which had become the de facto meeting room for the Avengers, Tony fiddled with the left gauntlet of his Iron Man suit. "Jarvis, remind me to recalibrate the relay tracking to the left-hand repulsor."

_Duly noted._

Upon entering the glass-enclosed room, Tony noted that the rest of the team had already assembled. Thor paced back and forth through the room, still wearing his armor, though Mjolnir was placed on the floor by the door. The Captain stood, arms crossed, reviewing the footage of one of the attacks on a monitor to the side, with Barton watching over Cap's shoulder. Dr. Banner sat at one of the desks, and looked shaken. While he was in his non-green-rage-monster form, he was also huddled in a t-shirt several sizes too large for him and pants torn at the knees - clear signs that the Hulk had made an appearance recently. Natasha Romanav perched on the desk in front of Banner, holding a mug of coffee and watching the byplay with one eyebrow raised.

"All right kids, who did we manage to piss off this time?" Tony asked as he walked in.

Nat snorted into her mug. "Not sure Tony, is there _anyone_ you've managed to not piss off within the first five minutes of meeting them?"

"No, but not the point. Someone broke into my tower under our watch, and as far as I can tell, they didn't take anything. There's no catastrophic injuries. No one is missing. What happened?"

"It feels like someone is testing our boundaries." Captain said, reviewing the security footage. "Someone wants to know how to play us in a fight."

Barton shook his head. "I'm not sure about that, Cap. Look there. Do you see? This cyclops-looking thing. It doesn't attack until he got hit with a stray shot from the security personnel." He looked over to Tony. "Whatever those things are, they didn't initially come to attack us. I think they may have just been caught in the crossfire."

"Anyone notice anything strange?" Dr. Banner asked, looking up from his laptop.

"Aside from our prisoner's model behavior during the whole attack?" Barton asked.

"No bodies." replied Tony, still fiddling with the gauntlet.

"You're right, Tony. No bodies. Once these guys went down they just... disintegrated." Banner said.

"I like this not." Thor said, still pacing. "It has the same feel as the tricks my brother used to play back in Asgard."

"So what, you think he had a compatriot come up and try to spring him, but didn't get the chance?" Tony asked, looking up from his gauntlet.

Thor stopped pacing and shook his head. "I am not sure. But it reeks of the same sort of magic he would employ."

"Jarvis, stop the tape there." Steve said suddenly. "Look here, you see?" Steve pointed to the monitor. "Watch this. Jarvis, back the tape up about ten seconds and play it again."

Everyone looked at Captain's monitor as it backed up the footage and played it again. The Hulk was in the basement gym in a full-on rage. Captain America was down there as well, and they were surrounded by dark elves. The dark elves had latched onto the Hulk's back and were attempting to pull him down. Hulk ripped two off of his chest, slammed them together, threw them down and then went to slam his back against the gym wall. Instead of crashing through the wall though, a light flashed and the Hulk bounced off of it. The elf had fallen to the ground, and Hulk continued pummeling any assailant he could.

"There, see that?" Rodgers asked.

"I'll be damned." Tony muttered, absently dropping the gauntlet on the table. "Someone caged the Hulk."

"Someone kept the Hulk and I penned up just until the fight was over. And then the cage disappeared, just like the bodies."

Tony turned to Dr. Banner and raised an eyebrow, and Banner shrugged. "Don't look at me; I don't know anything. The Other Guy didn't feel that agitated. I don't think he knew he was being penned up."

"So, we've got an intruder who comes into the building threatening us while making an effort to keep us protected. As far as Jarvis and I can tell, they didn't take or break anything. Hell, they even cleaned up after themselves like any good polite houseguest." Tony looked around. "Ideas? Comments? C'mon, people. I've skimmed _Better Home and Gardens_ once. There's absolutely no mention of random home invasions by disappearing monsters, so this isn't a usual occurrence. Someone is targeting us, and I need to know why."

"What about psionics? Someone playing mind games to see where we're vulnerable?" Romanov asked, putting down her mug.

"See that? That's what I meant. Ideas, anything." Tony jumped up and started pacing, his body vibrating with excitement. "Jarvis, catalog any known psionocists or possible candidates. Cross reference with any known enemies of SHIELD."

_Running now, sir._

"Also can't hurt to check and see if there's been any energy spikes in the last few days here." Bruce chimed in absently. "If someone got in, this couldn't be their first run. Maybe we can start building a timeline. Jarvis, can you calibrate the latent spectrometers to..."

_Already done, Dr. Banner._

"I'll run over the footage again. There's got to be something we're missing here." Tony said, still agitated.

"Has anyone spoken to my brother since this incident?" Thor asked. A chorus of _No_ followed. "Perhaps I should consult him. If he was not the cause of this, he likely knows who was." Thor strode out of the room, swishing his cape behind him.

"I'd better go with him. Two sets of eyes on Loki are better than one." Captain said, and jogged out after Thor.

"I've got some contacts I can check with - couple of folks still owe me a few favors. Let me make some calls and I'll get back with you." Hawkeye said, and left the room as well.

Natasha headed for the door as well. "Sorry boys. As much fun as watching you two pore over security tapes would be, I've got some contacts to rattle too." She stopped at the doorway and turned. "Don't stay up too late, and make sure you clean the kitchen when you get done. It's like an explosion of coffee grinds and chip wrappers when you two powwow all night." With that, she smirked and ducked out.

"But we don't... it's not..." Banner stuttered after her.

"It's not a slumber party!" Tony called out, knowing Natasha was long gone. Then he turned to Bruce. "So, coffee?"

* * *

Several hours later, the Avengers had reassembled in Tony's lab. Thor had brought in a couch to stretch out on. Banner sat on the floor, punching code into his tablet, which was plugged into the larger monitor Tony was working on. Tony himself was perched on a stool and simultaneously reviewing the footage from the intrusions as well as plugging in data from the energy spikes. Natasha and Clint sat across from each other at a desk to the side. They were using "SpyTalk" (dubbed by Tony) which was a mix of languages, shorthand English, and hand signals. The team had adjusted to this, as it was the best and most efficient means of communication between the two, but it still irked Tony that he hadn't been able to decipher it yet. He was reasonably certain that Nat and Clint changed it up every couple of days just to throw him off track.

_I have compiled the list of psionicists for you, sir._

"Excellent!" Tony hopped off the stool and headed towards the center of the room. "Show us what you've got, Jarvis."

_Certainly, sir._

A holographic list, complete with pictures, biographies and portfolios, ran through the room.

_I've collated the list based on known geographical location, with the closest to the Tower first:_

Charles Xavier, Professor. Known mutant, runs a school for "gifted children" in northern New York State.

"Pass. I know him - he's a good guy." Captain said, entering the room.

_Moving on. Jean Gray, noted telepath, graduate of Xavier's School and currently listed as one of the professors and counselors._

"Wasn't she with the X-Men? What, did that change?" Hawkeye popped up.

_It has not, Master Barton. Also, she and Professor Xavier were noted as being seen in Scotland today touring the facility run by one Moira MacTaggart._

"Let's rule put them on the back burner, then." Tony said. "Next?"

_Emma Frost. She used to be head of the Hellfire Club. Now she's in the Xavier Institute as well, and it's rumored she's taking over a new group of mutants under her wing._

"Jesus, how does anyone let their guard down at that institute?" Tony asked. "I mean, there's enough mental firepower there to rip open the minds of everyone on the eastern seaboard without blinking!" He paused, cocking his head, and then continued. "Jarvis, remind me to send the Institute a decent scholarship fund. Seems prudent to stay on their good side."

_I've sent the request to Ms. Potts so that Stark Industries can officially sign off on it._

"Thanks. But we'll pass on Frost; sounds like they have their hands full up there. Next!"

_Betsy Braddock, also known as Psylocke._ _She's British, trained as an assassin..."_

"Pass. I know her too." Captain interjected. "Not her M.O."

"He's right. I've seen her work... this is way too showy for her." Natasha said.

"Okaaay. Remind me to ask you guys how the hell you stay sane around all the psychic mumbo-jumbo folks you associate with. Jarvis, next!"

_Samuel Sterns, also known as "The Leader"_. _Often an ally to M.O.D.O.K., he also possesses the strength and skill needed to create such skilled illusions._

"No, this doesn't fit him. It's too uncontrolled." Dr. Banner said, frowning. "He would try to control us, destroy us from within."

"Those type of mind-control games don't fit our intruder, though." said Hawkeye. "We're looking for someone else – someone who wants "

_Noted. I'm adjusting the list now._

"Any word from Loki?" asked Natasha.

Thor shook his head. "He is as reluctant as ever to talk. He claims to know nothing about what happened, nor who would instigate such an attack."

Captain nodded. "I agree, but he's definitely hiding something. He just kept smiling the whole time, as if everything about the attack amused him."

"Likely it did. Think about it. Even if we won, it's someone else out to get us - the enemy of my enemy..." Bruce trailed off, and Jarvis spoke up.

_I've readjusted the list of psionicists. Shall I continue?_

"Hit it, J-Man."

_Next is Proteus. The son of Joe and Moira MacTaggart, he is a strong telepath and is also able to manipulate reality at will. _

"Sounds promising." Cap said.

_There appears to be one problem with this one._

"Christ, what now?" Tony asked, exasperated.

_He is currently listed as deceased._

"Jarvis, if you give me one more bad lead, I'm going to reprogram your speech generator to sound like Mr. T."

_You do realize you'd only be irritating yourself, sir_.

Tony stopped, and shook his head. "Fine. Next."

_There are two final possibilities: the Shadow King, and Vulcan. Both have abilities to create illusions such as those you fought today. However, Shadow King is listed as "whereabouts unknown" and Vulcan is currently listed as "deceased". _

"Fantastic. Well, thank you Jarvis. That was decidedly unhelpful." Tony clapped his hands. "Okay! So now we know where _not_ to look."

"What about Deadpool?" Barton asked. "I mean, I know that guy can't manipulate anyone's mind, but have you seen the shit that happens around him? Maybe someone should check in with him."

Everyone in the room turned to gawk at Hawkeye.

"Not it!" "Not it." "Nope." "Oh hell no." "Pass, thanks." "What is a Deadpool?"

"Trust me Thor, you are no match for that level of crazy." Natasha said.

"I will take your word for it then."

The other five Avengers looked in turn at each other, the floor, or the walls.

"Fine. I'll call him." Clint gave in. "But if I get drawn into some freaky alternate dimension crap again, you guys better come bail me out."

He stood and headed towards the door. "Nat, wanna give me some backup here?"

She stood gracefully and raised an eyebrow at Barton. "What, you can't handle one criminally insane mercenary on your own anymore?"

"C'mon Nat. Please?"

"Ok. But you'll owe me for this one."

They walked out together, continuing their conversation in creepy shorthand.

* * *

An hour later, Bruce was still poring through data on his tablet, then suddenly sat up straight. "Guys, I may have something here. Jarvis, can you pull this up on the big screen?"

The list of possible psionicists disappeared from the center of the room, and in its place, security camera footage popped up. It was difficult to tell what to focus on as the camera was angled down from a rooftop several buildings away from Stark Tower.

Bruce stood up and pointed at the footage. "This is from seven or eight days ago, from a building down the block. All of our external cameras shorted out at this time – this is the only footage we could find." He tried enhancing the image as best as possible to focus on the entryway of Stark Tower. "Look here. See that person there, walking towards the front of the building?"

Some nodding and a chorus of "yes" followed.

"The energy spikes from the attack earlier match the energy that follows this person. I just can't get a good visual. Every camera within a block at that time shorted out right about the same time."

They all watched as the figure headed towards the doorway of Stark Industries. There were SHIELD agents stationed at the door, per Fury's rather forceful request. One of them spoke to the figure for a moment, and then the figure turned and walked away. As soon as the SHIELD agent turned his head, the figure disappeared.

"Gentlemen and… well, gentlemen. I think we have our intruder." Tony said quietly. "Now let's find him."

Steve nodded, then paused. "Hey, should someone alert Nat and Clint?"

Both Bruce and Tony froze, but Tony spoke first. "Ohhhhhh no. No no no. Let's let them have their fun with Deadpool first."

Thor stood, and looked confused. "Really though. What is a Deadpool?"

* * *

_**Author's Note**_**:**

**Holy schnikes, guys! Thanks for all the follows, favorites and reviews! I'm really glad you all are enjoying the story as much as I am enjoying writing it. And don't worry, Rift and Loki will be back in the next chapter. I'm endeavoring to keep them in as fine a form as ever.**

**Big, virtual, non-creeper hugs to all those who've reviewed and favorited and followed this story. Best compliment ever goes out to the reader who said I use correct grammar and punctuation. (That's right kids, stay in school and you can write fanfiction too!) Also, the biggest, hugest, and most totally creepy hugs to Mayflowrs, who keeps me going on this. The force is strong with that altuni couple.  
**


	7. Chapter 7

**I REALLY DO NOT OWN ANYTHING MARVEL. EXCEPT COMICS AND BOOKS AND DVD's AND FUNKO POPS AND… Ok, let me rephrase. Wait, that'll take too long… let me sum up:**

**I do not own any of the Marvel characters or storylines. I do own *this* story and *this* OC.**

* * *

Loki detested being transported. The feeling of being _carried_, as though he was nothing more than dead weight, was a jarring grate on his senses. On Asgard he chose to teleport himself where he could, when he couldn't do that, he would ride his own horse. When that was not feasible, he would walk. Since having been dragged on the back of Thor's mount and paraded through the city as any common criminal, he despised the lack of control being transported gave. True freedom was being able to go wherever he wanted, however he wanted, whenever he wanted.

Though there were some advantages to riding with this girl, in her carriage. The first couple of hours were spent in relative silence. Early on she had inquired if he needed anything, but after he deferred she let him alone with his thoughts. He spent some time laying back and resting his eyes. Oh, he was still awake, but he found that people tended to lower their guard if they thought him asleep. Instead, he took surreptitious peeks at the vehicle, the route they took, the passing scenery, and at her.

The vehicle was powered solely by the magelet's energy. Under the hood glowed faintly blue under the seams and seals, reminding him of the neon lights young car enthusiasts would install to highlight their "ride". Instead of sticking to the busy paved highways she drove a more circuitous route - through mostly unused roads that took them through fields, forests, over streams. When a town or city was nearby she painstakingly drove around it, cutting as far afield as possible. Even more interestingly, if a car came near she visibly tensed and Loki could almost taste the energy radiating off of her body. A few hastily whispered words and a flick of her fingers and Loki surmised they were invisible to the naked eye. Once the car was in the distance she would relax, whisper another few words and keep moving onwards.

Through the fine slits of his eyes, Loki watched her as she drove. Her hair was dark in the night, only the copper highlights glittering silver with the infrequent passing of lights. Her skin was almost translucent, nearly glowing in the moonlight. As a driver she was sure and confident, never once questioning her route. She also sang the whole time, her voice was low and quiet - it was barely perceptible to him. He wished - again - that the wretched cuffs Stark had created were no longer on his hands. With a simple spell he would have been able to hear what she was saying clear as a bell. Unfortunately, he was relegated to watching and straining to catch a few words, and listening to the rise and fall of a faint melody that was both comforting and unfamiliar to him.

"I know you're awake." He lifted one eyebrow as Rift glanced his way, then turned her eyes back on the road. "I can feel you watching me."

He chuckled to himself, preferring to bait her by still pretending to sleep.

"For being the God of Lies, you're particularly bad at playing possum." Her eyes narrowed as she watched him continue to lay quietly. "Fine. Play possum. But I'm going to need to stop soon - I need a bite to eat before the next leg. Also," she grimaced slightly "nature calls."

"Humans are a foul breed." Loki sneered, finally giving in.

"No arguments there. Buuuuut since I'm not quite human, I like to think I've crossed that line and gone to 'wholly disgusting'." She shrugged. "No one has quite figured out what I am - which, by the way, makes angsty soul-searching in my adolescent years more difficult than most." A bright grin lit up her face. "I *may* have, accidentally, kinda-sorta set a few folks on fire during those times for calling me human. To be fair, they were also calling me a whore and a spellbegger, so it's not like 'human' set me off so much as their very existence on this planet."

"Control issues, magelet?" Loki asked, nonchalantly examining his nails.

"Yeah... I was a powder keg back then. I guess I am still, but at least I know that I am. That whole 'invincibility of youth' thing kinda looses its charm when you blow up a chunk of continent over an argument over table salt."

"Yes, I can see where that would be problematic."

She shrugged. "Diner food ok? There's a place down this road that's got some decent gnoshies."

"So long as there is something reasonably palatable, it will suffice." Loki smirked. "What, pray tell, is a 'gnoshie'?"

"Oh, uhm... food. Grub. Calorie-ridden morsels of awesomeness that you politely trowel into your food-hole." She turned the car down a dirt-ridden path, getting it out of sight of the highway, before she pulled it over to the side and stopped. "Ok, here's the deal. I can't drive this to their lot - the energy alone would fry all of their equipment. So I'm gonna leave it here, and we're gonna have to walk for a bit. It's just down that street and over the hill" She eyeballed him. "You ok with stretching your legs?" Without waiting for a response, she closed her eyes and held the jewel at her neck and began to whisper. The car sank and began to deteriorate right before Loki's eyes, back down to the flat tires, rusted-out exterior, and torn interior.

"I believe you've left me with few options."

She shrugged and smiled at him. "Sorry, Loki Laufeyson, Prince of Asgard, but you'll only be escorting a mere semi-mortal to dinner tonight."

Loki cringed when heard the reference to his title in Asgard, but curiously it did not fill him with the same blinding rage as it once had. Preferring to indulge the curious creature to his side instead of dwell on that little nugget of self-reflection, he smiled and exited the car. Rounding the back, he held a hand out to her, bowing down in the most precise courtier manner of Asgardian society. "My lady?"

* * *

Rift shivered. _Damn_, but that prince could be charming when he wanted to. It was the smile, she decided, which did it. The hint of Cheshire cat mixed in with pure amusement that made her go a wee bit wobbly. "Gee, you treat all your would-be kidnappers that way?" she asked, hoping the darkness hid the blush that crept up her cheekbones.

"Having never been put in the position to choose between sitting in a Midgardian prison to rot or have dinner with a would-be kidnapper whose beauty rivals that of the stars, I doubt I would know." he said as he helped her out of the car's rusted remains.

"Ooookay." Rift pulled her hand out of his and stepped away from him, giving herself space to think, to speak. "Let's get one thing straight here, Trickster. As much as I appreciate your fantabulous charms, and I do, you're wasting your time."

"Why is one passing complement to beauty a waste of time?" Loki looked genuinely curious.

"Because we both know you don't mean it. I'm a lot of things - stupidly powerful, decent at magic, etcetera etcetera etcetera - but I'm not smart. I'm not funny. And I am definitely not a thing of beauty that 'rivals the stars.' So let's just drop that before it starts." She turned and stalked around the front of the car into the nearby trees, the blue aura of energy highlighting her exit. "Give me a minute. I've got to ground again before we go for dinner." She hoped he would stay with the car, and that the blue aura that had built during her outburst hadn't shown Loki the tears streaming down her face.

* * *

Dinner was a quiet affair. The café had in fact been just down the road as Rift had said, and still open even though they stumbled in the wee hours of the morning. Florescent lighting drained everything of color, but could not rob the interior of the smell of breakfast on the griddle. A hearty smell of bacon, coffee, and something with blueberry - pancakes or muffins, it was hard to tell - permeated the small eatery. The booths were covered in a red plastic leather, and the walls were adorned in a faded, peeling wallpaper. The tables were an old formica mix, though the bar where Loki and Rift sat was resin-coated with records and CD's lining the bottom. The stools were the same red plastic-leather, worn, but functional. Small knicknacks of birds decorated the café as well - shoved onto every available shelf, nook or cranny available. Elbows on the counter and holding a cup of coffee, Rift looked at the walls (really anywhere but Loki) and sighed. This wasn't home, but it was a sign she was close.

"More coffee?" the waitress, Trudy, asked.

"Please." she held the mug out quietly. "Thank you."

"Need me to get some of these plates out of your way?"

Rift nodded quietly. For his part, Loki quietly waved his hand, at the empty plates.

Trudy piled the plates with an efficiency that spoke to her many years working in the café. "Anything else you need, hon?" she asked Rift. She looked concerned, like she wanted to ask more.

"Not right now, thank you." Loki said quietly. After quickly perusing the menu, his eyes had never left Rift's face. At first it was unnerving; now it was damned irritating. Trudy nodded quietly, took one last look at Rift, then hauled the plates back into the kitchen.

"I give up!" Rift turned to him, facing him dead-on as soon as the Trudy was out of earshot. "What? What on earth is so fascinating?"

Loki's eyes warmed a bit, and he smirked without malice. "I was wondering, magelet, if you really hide your scars as well as you think."

"... what do you mean?"

"You're a fascinating puzzle. You exude confidence in any number of difficult situations. But give you a hint of a compliment and you collapse like a card tower." He leaned closer, and his voice took on a rough undertone. "What broke you, little magelet?"

Rift began to shiver. The cold she held at bay crept in, and she put the coffee mug down and began to hug herself. Deciding not to skirt Loki's accusations with false bravado, she whispered, "I don't want to talk about it."

Surprisingly, Loki just nodded and sat up straight again. "All right magelet. That is your choice. But know this," he said, his voice becoming firmer as he reached out with one hand, pulling her chin back towards him until her eyes met his, "it will be discussed."

She nodded quietly, and tried to collect herself. "We're about an hour out. I probably could have waited to eat until we got there, but I burned a lot of energy getting you out. Cass'll be happy I'm not trying to eat the house down to the foundations when we get there." Standing up, she called out, "Trudy! We're headed out!"

Trudy bustled through the swinging kitchen door again. "Ok, hon. Sure you don't want anything for the road?"

"Nah... two omelets, a plate of bacon and a stack of pancakes is enough to tide me over for now. I'll be home soon, and Cas'll prolly want to have breakfast soon."

"Ok, well let me know." Trudy eyeballed Loki meaningfully. "You." She pointed a finger at him. "You make sure you take good care around those girls, you hear me?"

Loki stood, shocked. Recovering swiftly, he smiled charmingly and asked, "Should I be worried, madam? After all, the lady is _obviously_ in charge here." His eyes cut back over to Rift, glimmering with amusement.

Trudy nodded at his words, but folded her arms across her chest. She turned back to Rift. "Tell Cass I said hello."

"Will do." Rift headed towards the door, then turned suddenly. "Hey Trudy, you have any pomegranates?"

* * *

Some time later, Natasha and Clint returned to Avengers tower. They were bruised, bloodied, and covered in a clear gel-like substance which squished onto the floor wherever they stepped. Hawkeye was listing to the right a bit and favoring his left leg, and Natasha was holding together a gash on her right forearm. Both had made it only halfway through the living area before they heard Tony speak.

"Remind me again to fix the in-elevator showers." Tony said, standing at the bar to the side.

"Tony, nobody liked taking showers in the elevator." Banner said, sitting on the couch and studying his tablet.

"Pish-tosh, everyone like a good shower wash!" Tony said, raising a glass in mock salute.

Natasha grimaced. "How many of those has he had?" Her voice was steady, but her face was pinched, still in pain.

Bruce shook his head. "You don't want to know." He put the tablet down on the table, and turned to Natasha and Clint. "So, how'd the Deadpool trip go?"

"_Never again_ mention that name."

Natasha shook her head, and patted Hawkeye on the shoulder with her good hand. "It's ok, Clint." She turned back to Bruce and Tony. "It was... interesting. We didn't get much out of him. A firefight started with a pack of robot-ninjas before we could really get anything good out of him. But he did say one thing: you'll find what you seek when you find the Rift."

"You realize he's bonkers, Nat."

"He is, Bruce. But that was... surprisingly sane, for him."

Hawkeye huffed, then shuffled out muttering something about a shower or shower of arrows, it was hard for Tony to catch.

"Okay. Well, we got a few good leads here too. There's a guard we're going to hunt down in the morning... er... later on, in daylight hours. Thor's gone to spend some time with Dr. Foster, but he's also going to head back to Asgard and see if they've got any more information there. And Tony and I devised an algorithm to track the energy signature of our mystery invader... before he started drinking, I swear." Bruce held his hands up innocently to Natasha's glare as Tony laughed in the background.

"Fine. I need a shower too, after I get patched up." she headed to the elevators, then turned and raised an eyebrow to Bruce. "You coming? Someone's got to run the skin grafting machine."

"Oh, uh... yes. Sure. Yes." Bruce clumsily gathered his books and tablet, then headed after her. Tony stayed at the bar, watching them get into the elevator with clearer eyes than he'd had before and a small smile.

"You go, Banner." he said quietly, and downed his drink.

* * *

Loki pondered his next move and how to continue to gain Rift's trust all the way back to the car. He held four pomegranates in his hands - Rift claimed that she would taint them if she carried them. She smiled when she had said it, and Loki felt the untruth even as it fell from her lips. His anger at her lie dissipated quickly, though. Having her hands free did allow her to dance on the way back to the car, which was a delightful and enlightening experience.

As they crested the hill past the diner, Rift took her shoes off, slipped them into her back pockets and stepped onto the grassy embankment, close to the trees. She smiled, took a deep breath... and began to dance towards the car. Her body shimmered faintly blue again, but this energy felt different - less fiery, more peaceful and grounded. The ground appeared to rise and fall to her steps, the air played with her hair, twisting and twirling it, and Loki swore that when she jumped the air caught her and held her aloft longer than gravity allowed. She laughed and played, happily dancing through the dark of early morning, back to the magically-powered car, with Loki in her wake.

* * *

Rift had stopped dancing by the time they reached the car. Having to bottle up so much energy when she was at the diner was almost painful. She had to keep herself and Loki cloaked from any search as best she knew how, so she had to keep a small spell up. She didn't have to hide her physical form - not from Trudy or her husband Gabe, both of whom she'd befriended long before - but she still had to mask Loki's features enough so Trudy wouldn't recognize him. Those stupid magic-blocking-wrist-cuffs were still on Loki's wrists, and working any sort of glamour on him took extra care so she didn't shock the shit out of him. And then she had to keep everything as low-level as possible to keep Trudy and Gabe's electronic equipment running as smoothly as possible. It didn't pass Rift's notice that Trudy's watch had stopped - again - serving her. Hopefully Cass would be able to set it to rights, or she'd be buying Trudy her third watch that year.

The relief Rift had felt once she left the diner was _glorious_. Her belly was full, the diner was safe, and Loki was still with her (having not been absconded by aliens, or running off mid-meal, or anything else weird.) Her relief caused her energy to surge; it ran through her and she just ran with it, dancing and twisting and twirling with the earth and the air as her partners.

And now, standing at the car with the Asgardian God of Mischief, Lies, and horned helmets, Rift was _mortified_.

As her feet touched the earth again, she awkwardly pulled her shoes back out from her pockets and slipped them on. "Erm... sorry about that. And here, I'll put the pomegranates away." She plucked them from Loki's hands, darted around to the back of the car, and kicked the trunk open. She muttered to herself while she was in the trunk, and the car quickly began to reform into its pristine condition.

"Do you often travel by dance?"

Slamming the trunk lid back down, Rift decided to bait him, just a bit. "Often. I find it's only the classiest way to travel. Why, don't you travel by dance in Asgard?" Her eyebrow raised a bit as she asked.

"Not often. Though there are few who would be able to command the very earth and air to dance with them as well - which, I suppose, is why it hasn't caught on."

"Oh, that's not a command. That just... happens." she shrugged, and moved to the driver's side.

* * *

Loki stepped in front of her, blocking her path. "There are many things that just _happen_, magelet, but so much just _happens_ around you. It's hard to tell where reality ends and your imagination begins. Do you not ever long to _force_ things to do your bidding? To bend reality to your will?"

Rift's eyes turned cold when she looked at him. "No."

"Not once, magelet? Not ever?" Loki's voice was hard, and his eyes searched hers deeply, looking for answers, demanding the truth.

"Not for me. Not once. Not ever."

Loki weighed her words, her voice, her eyes. He felt the truth in her words, and the underlying pain. Something was broken, just beneath the surface. For Rift to learn to control her power, she was going to need to heal the broken parts of her soul first.

"Interesting, magelet. Very interesting indeed." Loki nodded, then opened the door for her, bowing as she sat down. "My lady." he said, as he shut the door quietly. He got to his side of the car, sat down, and nodded to himself.

* * *

Silence permeated the car as it started, and the wind pushed through the trees, their branches waving fondly goodbye as the car drove away.

During the rest of the drive, Loki thought. He thought about his thoughts, which were clearer now than his last months on Asgard. He thought about his emotions, which while still volatile, were more controllable now than before the Rainbow Bridge. He thought about his will, his body, his mind. He realized it was fully his to control, for the first time in... months? years? How long had he been in the black abyss with the Other? With Thanos? How long did he fall sway to their control? He couldn't place when he'd lost his free will, but it was after a mountain of abuse at the Other's hands.

This girl was the key, somehow. The vicious beating he'd taken from the Hulk helped him regain his faculties, but just being in the presence of the magelet for the past hours had severed the screaming rage that constantly buffeted his mind. He smiled, he frowned, he laughed, he thought. All on his own. His feelings, his emotions, his words.

Glorious.

Woe betide anyone who came between him and this creature who stole him his freedom.

* * *

_**Author's Note**_** –**

**Guys. Guys. Guys! Thank you so much for all of your likes and support and reviews and stuff. Seriously, I squeal like a kid on crack every time I see another follow or review. (Not that I know what a kid on crack sounds like, I swear.)**

**So, I feel like I should apologize for the story being slow. It is taking some time to get where I want them to go…. Maybe if I were more experienced, my characters would listen to me more? Oh, well. Stay tuned to the next chapter: I promise, more explosions, more action. More Avengers v. Team Riki… Oh, please don't let "Riki" stick.**

**Super-special thanks to my sister-from-another-mister, Mayflowrs, for putting up with my insane ramblings. Seriously, the only reason this story is almost sane is because she talks me off ledges. Y'all should buy her a pony or something.**

**Thanks again for reading, guys. You all are awesome.**


	8. Chapter 8

**I do not own anything that Marvel has produced, or copyrighted, or anything of that nature. However, me, the OC and the idea of this story are sitting in the tree, w-r-i-t-i-n-g... er... nope. Nothing to see here. Move along.**

* * *

She was almost home. Humming to herself as she drove, Rift pushed the car just a little bit faster than before. Her home, with her comfortable bed in it, would be in her sights soon. She wasn't a natural-born sleeper, but a decent six or seven hours of shuteye sounded pretty damn good right now. Her stomach still rumbled - she'd probably be hungry for the next several days after the amount of energy she'd burned through during her daring Asgardian-God kidnapping. Meanwhile Cass would fuss about food, and then the bickering would start over who's turn it was to cook... which always ended up with Cass cooking, since Rift would burn boiled water (which left a horrible smell for hours afterwards). And when the thought of bickering even brought a smile to Rift's face, she knew she'd been gone too long.

It seemed that Loki felt the change it atmosphere as well, as he appeared more apprehensive. His fingers drummed on his thigh restlessly. She'd asked if he needed anything again, or if he wanted anything to be more comfortable, but he'd just waved her off and proceeded to lose himself in his thoughts. Occasionally she caught twisting the cuffs on his wrists around and around. For a moment, Rift considered what it would be like to be without access to her magic, and she shuddered. It was such an intrinsic part of her, she figured it would be like losing a lung - she'd barely be able to function, and it would be a miserable existence.

Great. Not even a full day yet, and she already pitied that damned Trickster. She realized with a start that if he spent much more time in her presence, she'd end up becoming even more attached, which was a gorram shame. All of the research she had done on Loki emphasized his fickle nature, his lies, and his deceit. Though legend often bore little-to-no resemblance to the truth of the matter, it was still disconcerting to acknowledge that she might actually befriend a known scoundrel once again.

Then again, the few scoundrels she called friends had turned into her greatest allies.

Chewing on that train of thought, Rift nearly missed her turnoff from the country road.

* * *

The dense forest allowed one small, ill-used dirt track to the left, with a "Road Closed" sign hanging precariously from its post and a metal gate locked across the path. She hit the brakes hard, laughing, and turned the steering wheel sharply left. The car skidded and pulled, but stayed true on the track. Loki didn't get jostled a bit and merely raised an eyebrow at Rift's obvious enthusiasm for her driving antics.

They traveled straight through the closed metal gate as though it were made of thin air and proceeded to cut through a dense forest. The dirt track trailed off, and instead they followed the barest of deer trails through the woods for several miles. Finally, a break in the dense foliage allowed early-morning light to pour into the car, temporarily blinding both passengers. Rift slowed the car, and then pulled it off to the side.

They'd pulled into a small field. Early morning sun graced the top of the green grass, surrounded on all sides by the forest they'd driven through. There were some tire tracks from the trail they had just exited, which cut through to another path just to the west. A few horses grazed lazily; they looked at the car when it pulled up, and then turned back to their breakfast.

"Sorry, Lokes. We hoof it from here." She said, and got out of the car.

Loki's eyes narrowed as he opened the passenger door and drew himself out of the car. "You do realize, magelet, that you have yet to provide me with proper attire?" His voice dripped with disdain.

Rift cocked her head and looked confused. "Sorry?" She looked him over, from head-to-toe. "You're still clothed. I mean, I can't get your armor and whatnot that you usually wear, but..."

"Are you blind? Do you normally go traipsing about in your socks through the fields?" Loki bit out.

"Oh! Oh. Oh damn. Well... why didn't you ask before? My Kreskin act is pretty damn shoddy lately." she said, exasperated. She ran over to him and pointed at his feet. A pair of thick leather boots appeared right before him. The stone at her neck glowed brightly for a moment, and his feet felt cool and tingled.

Loki took a deep breath, allowing himself to enjoy the soothing sensation of a healing spell on his feet. As he slipped his feet into the boots his anger melted away, and he felt slightly ashamed at his outburst. Rarely before had he issued apologies for his past transgressions (of which there were many) but he felt compelled to make amends for his poor behavior with the magelet.

"I apologize for my outburst." he said stiffly. Then he rolled his shoulders, sighed, and leaned against the car. "I am not used to having to ask for help, and it grates."

Rift nodded. "I can't imagine what it would be like to have my magic caged like that. I'd be insane within the first couple of hours. How you've lasted this long is beyond me. I guess you're entitled to be a bit snippy." She walked to the back of the car, opened the boot and began to pull out the supplies and load them onto a nearby cart. After wallowing for one more moment, Loki stepped in to assist.

"Tell me again why we are carting in your supplies instead of allowing this ingenious vehicle to carry it to your home, along with ourselves?" Loki asked.

Without breaking stride, Rift answered, "Because it'll bug Cass. She's already been cooped up for a couple of weeks since I wasn't here to let the perimeter down; I don't want to irritate her any more than that."

"Is it normal for you to kidnap people for companionship?"

Rift grimaced. "No, Cass isn't a kidnappee. She just needs a place where she can be safe. If she leaves, it will break the wards, and then..." Rift shrugged. "She wouldn't be able to defend herself."

Loki nodded as though Rift's answer made perfect sense. His brain was still not running on all cylinders - the beating Banner had given him had rattled him harder than he'd ever admit - but he felt like he should be able to understand why Cass was unable to tolerate the car's proximity. The answer to the riddle teased him as they finished loading the cart and Rift whistled shrilly. A nearby horse whinnied, then trotted over politely, nodding quietly at Rift before allowing himself to be tethered to the cart.

"You ready, Max?" she asked softly, and the horse nickered. "All right, off we go."

They walked across the field and down the western twisting dirt path, the horse and cart trailing behind them. A few minutes in, Loki and Rift stopped suddenly as a blue shield blocked their path. It extended up, well over the tops of the trees, and across either side as far as Loki could see.

"Crap! Sorry, I always forget where the ward's boundaries are." Reaching out her hand, Rift stroked the shield. A large hole melted away, the blue disintegrating quickly into small sparks which fell harmlessly into the forest around them. A few steps in, and Rift pointed to the sky, and a small streak of gold raced across the sky of the forest. "She'll know we're almost home now - she'll see the signal out the window."

All the pieces clicked together in Loki's head. Cassandra, who couldn't stand to be near Rift's magic. Who couldn't leave the house when the wards were in place. Who would affect Rift's magic, which had enough power (though not nearly as much finesse) as his own. Who couldn't handle anything that Rift could magically conjure without it going awry.

He smiled. This was about to get _very_ interesting, indeed.

* * *

Clint felt the need to bang his head into the wall. Well, maybe not his head, particularly. Perhaps the head of the SHIELD drone in front of him and Natasha.

"I'm sorry, sir. I do not recall the instance you are referring to." the drone repeated. Again.

Natasha stepped in, empathy written all over her face. "I understand if it's difficult. We've all had a few very trying days. But this is important. What can you tell us of this person who spoke to you six days ago?" She pointed to the grainy image of a person on-screen, who stood in front of Stark tower speaking to the very agent Clint and Nat were questioning now.

The SHIELD agent blinked a few times, and then shook his head. "I'm sorry ma'am. That day's a blank for me."

Natasha stepped away to Clint and subtly shook her head. Signing to him, she said _"This idiot is useless._"

"_Agreed._"

"_Time to let Fury to take a crack at him._"

For the first time since the interview, Clint smiled. "_Good idea_." "Sir, we apologize for taking up your time. If you'd like to wait here for a bit, Director Fury will be right in to finish processing the paperwork."

They both turned and left silently. The agent sat back in his chair, visibly shaken and paler than he had been twenty minutes ago.

* * *

_Sir, I believe you should see this_.

"What's up, Jarvis?"

_The tracking beacon on the energy-restraints you placed on Loki is apparently malfunctioning_.

"... what do you mean, _malfunctioning_?"

_It's showing that Loki is in the Appalachian Mountains. Also, that he is in Brazil, New Mexico, England_, _and our holding cell. _

"Damn it. Send Natasha and Clint down to the 'Pit of Despair'... err... down to the holding cell."

_They are already on their way._

"Thor better take that tricky bastard back to Asgard soon." Tony mumbled to himself. "Jarvis, show me the maps of where we're getting signals. Do you think they could be someone copying our tracking signal to throw us off base?"

_The signals are weak and inconsistent, but their tracking ping is otherwise identical to the original. _

"Interesting. Wake Banner and... you know what? No. Don't wake Banner. Just let him know when he wakes up."

_Excellent choice, sir._

* * *

Rift and Loki had reached their home without incident. Loki had remained reasonably quiet the rest of the walk, listening to Rift point out interesting spots along the trail to the house - easy trees to climb, or where to find fresh blackberries. Once Max, the supplies and the two vagabonds had reached the sprawling ranch house and unloaded the supplies inside, it was a different story. Cass had rolled into the dining room as soon as they had sent Max back to the field and started laying out the supplies in the dining room. To say that Loki and Cass got off on the wrong foot would be an understatement.

"What in the bloody hell is that fucking homicidal psychopath doing here?!" Her eyes were wide with shock as the true-to-life embodiment of the alien who just-so-recently had tried to conquer earth stood in their dining room.

Loki's eyes narrowed and he stood up straighter. "Watch your tongue, you impudent wretch. I am still the rightful king of Asgard."

"That's absolute bloody bullshit!" Cass turned her chair towards Rift. "This guy? Really? This loony is wha' you brought home wit'cha? How in ever-freaking-bloody-hell is this maniac going to help you?"

Rift closed her eyes and counted to ten. Slowly. Then did it again. Opening her eyes and forcing her tone to stay quietly moderate, she said, "We talked about this, Cass. Remember? I need someone more practiced to help, or I'll burn out." Her voice broke for a moment. Kneeling down to Cass' chair, she implored her to understand. "He can help, Cass. _I've seen it_. Plus, he did bring the pomegranates for you."

Cass ran her hands through her purple hair (or half of it, as half her head was shaved down) and sighed loudly. Addressing no one in particular, she muttered. "How in Hades d'ya argue with a bloody precog? Fine. If he behaves, he can stay." She turned a gimlet eye on the fallen God. "But if you so much as _think_ about releasing a horde of bloodthirsty bloody aliens near our house, I will choke the ever-living life out of you with my own bare hands. You ken, you miserable git?"

Loki nodded slowly, with a self-satisfied sneer. "Oh, I understand perfectly." He smiled darkly and continued, "If I so much as set a toe out of line, I have naught to fear but a pathetic multi-hued chair-bound mortal _void_ who will attempt to strangle me as I watch her home **burn** from afar. Oh, I am _terrified_. Please, attempt to intimidate me again."

"Why you miserable no-good two-bit son of a..."

"**ENOUGH!**" Both Loki and Cass jumped as the house shook. Plates rattled on the table next to them, and several cups fell off the edge. The room darkened considerably as light bulbs along the wall popped. Both of them looked at Rift, who'd moved to the corner and was burning bright with untapped energy.

"You two," she faced them, "sort this shit out. Right. The fuck. Now."

"Oh shit." Cass muttered.

"Cass, get the restraints off Loki. Whatever it takes. Loki, stop baiting Cassandra. So help me I..." the energy burned brighter. Rift could feel herself losing her tenuous grip of control over herself. "Oh holy fucking hell!" She disappeared in a burst of light, scorching the walls of the house with blue flames in her wake.

* * *

"Well, at least it's just the magic fire this time." Cass said. She maneuvered her chair around the table to where the blue flames were licking their way up the walls. As soon as she was within five feet, the flames started sputtering, and then dissipated completely.

"Is that a normal occurrence?" Loki asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Wha', her blowin' up like that? Nah. She's usually got a pretty good idea of what's what with that." She wheeled herself over to Loki. "Suppose she's had to. Saves her skin. Canny as a fox, she can be." She stopped in front of him and grabbed his left wrist, looking at the cuffs.

"Where does she go, when she teleports away?"

"Dunno. S'not like she'll be in the mood to talk about it when she gets back, either." Cass pulled a small screwdriver out from behind her seat and started tampering with the cuff. Loki heard her muttering under her breath for a few minutes as she fiddled with the device, before pulling a few more tools out of her bag on the back of her chair. Glancing up at him, she said, "It'll take more'n a minute to get this done. Might as well get settled."

"To remove these infernal devices, I have all the time in this world." He settled into a chair in the dining room while she worked. "So, how long have you known her?"

Cass hummed. "Goin' on several years now, I s'pose. She's the one who rescued me from the fucking necro-freaks who had me in their basement." A small metallic _pop_ and the cuff loosened. "She's always been good to me." A few more twists and several bouts of swearing about StarkTech later, and the cuff loosened even more. "Nobody really enjoys having a void around, y'know. But on the flip side, bits of us can be pretty damn useful to those that know what they're doin'." She jammed the screwdriver into his cuff again, and jimmied it with enough force that it bent to a 90-degree angle. "Well, shit." She sat back, pulled out a larger screwdriver, and went back to work.

"How can you stand living with such a powerful magical element?" Loki asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

"Wha', you mean when I'm void?" She shrugged. "Balance, I guess. She goes off, yeah. All the magic floatin' about is buzzes sometimes. Makes my skin itch. But all her magic and such just falls apart before it gets to me. Plus, we've got separate sides of the house, so if I don't have my electronics wi' me, they're as far from her as they can get. Surprised these lasted as long as they did 'round her." she said, knocking on the left cuff. With a _clink_ and a small hydraulic hiss, it popped open.

Loki flexed his left hand and couldn't hold back a sigh of appreciation. "Ahhh... much better." His hand tingled, and it felt as though he was recovering from his hand being asleep, instead of Stark blocking his magic with his damnable cuffs.

Cass glared at him again, but beckoned for his right hand. He dutifully laid it into her hands, and she attacked the cuff with the same ferocity as she had the first. After a few minutes, she looked up at him. "Y'know, for you being a 'silver tongue' and all, you don't talk very much."

He smirked. "I've often found it more beneficial in new situations to listen before speaking. It is amazing what information you can glean from being patient."

Cass dropped her tools and gaped at him. "You unbelievable bastard."

He leaned back, examining his nails. "I assure you madam, I am many things, but I am not a _bastard_. A half-breed, a monster, a trickster, yes. But unfortunately for Midgardian colloquialisms, the frost giants who bore me were in fact legally wed, in their uncivilized manner." Cass' mouth was agape, but Loki continued. "However true those statements are, they are not the heart of this matter here, and this truly: I swore an oath to help your friend, one which I refuse to be forsworn. If that means I must tolerate you to keep my word, I will suffer your inane prattling. You have nothing to fear from me so long as your friend is safe and upholds her end of the bargain."

"And what bargain would that be, _trickster_?" Cass hissed.

"None of your concern." Rift answered as she entered the dining room again. She sat down on the oak chair adjacent to Cass and Loki, and held her head in her hands. "Sorry I lost it." She said quietly. "I should have known this would be a stupid idea." Rift turned her head to Cass, and Loki could see her eyes were red-rimmed, but clear. "It's your home as well as mine. If he bothers you that much, I'll find another place for us to go to ground."

Cass sat back. After a moment, she shook her head. "No, I'll not have ye runnin' from your own home, too. We'll get along just fine, the mad one and me." With that, Cass twisted the screwdriver one more time, and the right cuff popped off his hand.

Loki felt the power rushing back into him and smiled giddily. "Yessssssss..." he said, and took a full breath of air."I feel whole again." Cass rolled back, and Loki closed his eyes. He felt _himself_ again, wholly and completely. He stretched his arms out, and multiples of himself appeared throughout the room (though giving Cassandra a wide berth). They were all smiling, grinning, laughing. He allowed them to dissipate, turned to Rift, and laughed. His clothing shimmered and changed, back into his more casual Asgardian armor. Black and green leather hugged his body and filled out his form. HIs ran his hands through his hair and it pulled out of his eyes and stayed slicked back when his hands returned to his sides. Then he stopped, turned back to Cass and bowed cordially. "My lady Cassandra, I thank you for your help." Then he turned to Rift. "And you as well, magelet. Because of you, I am myself once more."

"Well isn't that wizard. Now that we've allowed the insane world-destroying god to have his magic back, who's hungry?" Cass asked. She rolled herself into the kitchen, calling over her back, "French toast all right for you lot?"

* * *

Rift and Loki sat back after second breakfast, bellies full and hunger replete. Once Loki and Cass had stopped actively trying to kill each other, they turned out to be reasonably amiable to one another. They weren't bosom buddies, by any stretch, but the lack of homicidal rage on either side was a good start towards peace in the kingdom. Cass had already retreated back to her corner of the house, having cleaned up the kitchen to let the two mage-heads "get to work, or whatever it is you're doin'."

However, Rift's eyes were heavy. She'd stayed awake through the French toast through sheer force of will, but the last few days along with two heavy meals were weighing hard on her consciousness. She simply closed her eyes for one moment when she felt herself being lifted up out of the chair.

"Come come magelet. One should not fall asleep on the table." Loki said quietly, lifting her into his arms easily.

Rift's eyes opened blearily, and she looked down. "Forgot how tall you are..." she mumbled. She could feel his chuckle through his chest.

"It is the burden of my nature, I suppose." he said. "Where are your rooms, little one?"

Without hesitation, Rift gave him directions to her room. She felt good enough to walk, but being in Loki's arms felt so comfortable, so reassuring, that she just wound her arms around his neck and snuggled in for the ride.

* * *

For his part, Loki felt confused by the amount of trust the magelet allowed him. First showing him not just a safe house, but permitting him into her own home. Releasing his magic without restriction, and then allowing him to carry her to her own rooms. In Asgard, he'd had plenty of women who would keep him company, but none who shared any measure of trust with him, even before his true nature had been discovered. After that revelation had left the royal house, no one would willingly get within twenty meters of him without being coerced. That this woman knew _what_ he was and still let him close to her astounded and confused him. Should she not be reviled by his presence? Shouldn't she run from the monster that lurked under the surface of his skin?

His self-deprecating thoughts were interrupted when she pointed to a thick wooden door at the end of the hall. "Here. Let me down for a moment." Loki reluctantly lowered her to the ground. She let go of his neck and they stood there for a moment before she turned around and held her hand out to the door. The wood pulsed golden, then blue, and then Loki heard a very loud _clunk_.

"Sorry. I don't ward it against Cass - it wouldn't work anyways, you know - but I still lock it every time I leave. Just in case." She turned the handle with one hand, grabbed his hand with the other and dragged him through the door.

Instead of being inside a bedroom, as Loki anticipated, they were in a long, well-lit wooden hallway, with open and closed doors lining both walls. A large window, with a window seat covered in books, was down at the other end of the hallway, allowing the light to spill down the hallway. His eyes narrowed, and he _felt_ the energy permeating the walls. "It seems I am not the only one with tricks up my sleeve, am I, little magelet? You've hidden your rooms in a pocket dimension, haven't you?"

She turned to him, squeezing his hand slightly. "Yup. Figured it's harder to set fire to the rest of the house if it's not connected all the time. The door is a temporary portal - it's only viable when I unlock it. Otherwise, it just opens to the cellar stairs." She dragged him down the hall, to the nearest door on the left. "This will be your room. I've locked the portal so it'll stay put, keeping us anchored to the house for now." She turned the handle to his room and opened the door wide. It was a good-sized room, with green walls, a table, several comfortable chairs (all askew and covered in books as well) and a large bed pushed against the side wall. Several windows lined the far wall, and the other walls were lined with bookshelves stuffed to the brim with books. She let his hand go with one final squeeze, then walked in. "There's a wardrobe in the bathroom - I just couldn't find space for it with all the books. The bathroom's through that door there..." she pointed to the closed door, "which has a bath, shower, and all the other stuff you'd need. I imagine you feel pretty grubby from the travel and all, no matter what glamour you cast on yourself."

Raising an eyebrow, he asked steadily, "Whatever do you mean, little magelet?"

She cocked her head at him, confused. "I mean this." She waved her hand towards him, and the glamour he had cast fell apart. He stood before her again in only the clothes he had traveled in, the thin black shirt, black pants, and leather boots she had conjured him earlier.

His mouth tightened with rage. "How?" He advanced on her. "How did you do that?"

She began to step backwards, holding one hand behind herself, and Loki could see a blue aura appear around her suddenly. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to. But it wasn't solid, you had to know that. It was good, for a glamour - it held up near Cass, and that takes a lot of work. But why are you upset about it?"

"_No one_ has ever been able to see through the glamour, magelet. No one." He stopped mid-stride towards her, then sank into a chair, on top of papers and books alike. "Before you, I thought I was the most powerful mage that had ever been produced. You are shattering a lot of illusions I held dear, little magelet, and it is decidedly an unpleasant slap to my ego."

"Uhmm... Sorry?" She moved towards him now, and knelt by his chair. "So... now what? We compare who's got the most power and blow this section of reality away completely?" She gave him a lopsided grin.

"No, I think we've done enough damage to realities - real or imagined - for this morning. Get some rest, little magelet. My equilibrium could use some rest as well. We'll start your training tonight."

Rift stood up slowly and smiled at him. "That sounds like a plan, _Master Loki_." She laughed at her own joke, and it sounded tired. "Night... errr... morning. Whichever. Get some rest." With that, she walked out, shutting the door behind her.

Loki fell asleep before he remembered to get to the bed.

* * *

"This doesn't feel right." Clint said. He and Natasha had been watching over Loki for the better part of three hours, standing in for the SHIELD guards at the door who had been relieved of duty. In that time, Loki had sat on the edge of the bed, watching them, with a jester-like smile plastered on his face.

"What do you mean?" Natasha whispered back. "He's Loki. He's just trying to taunt you. Just leave it alone."

"No, this isn't right Natasha. He would be baiting us, or trying to turn us against one another. He's just... sitting. It feels wrong for him."

"Are you sure you aren't still compromised?" Natasha turned and looked at him now, into his eyes.

Clint shook his head. "No, it isn't that. But something's up, Nat. I can feel it."

Nat looked at Clint one more time, then nodded. "All right. We'll keep a rotation fixed on him, in this cell. If anything starts getting hinky, we'll shut him down immediately."

"Good." Clint nodded.

* * *

_Sir, about the tracking signal..._

"What now, Jarvis?" Tony asked. His eyes stayed glued to his screen, as he was looking at different energy signature trails which matched their target. All the screens in the lab showed the pacing of each energy signal, and what their projected route was.

_It's gone silent._

"What?" Tony closed the screens with a wave of his hand stood up. "Open comms to Nat and Clint. Now."

_Already done._

"Guys? You still with us?" Tony asked, pulling on the tracking wristlets for his latest Iron Man suit.

"Yeah, Tony, we're still here, what's up?" Natasha replied, sounding calm.

"We're getting some weird readings on Loki's cuffs. He's still in his cell, right?"

"As far as we can tell." Hawkeye replied tersely.

"Great. Keep both sets of eyeballs on him. I'm coming down there. His tracking cuffs have gone offline in the last minute. If he tries anything funny, you have my permission to unleash hell."

Tony heard Hawkeye's bow slip out of his holster and slide into action. "Will do."

"Great. Jarvis, is Banner awake yet?" Tony asked, heading for the elevator.

_I'm afraid not yet._

"Well, gently throw some water on him or something. I have a feeling we're going to need all we can get. And call Rodgers back from SHIELD HQ."

_I am relaying the message now_.

As Tony stepped into the elevator, he wondered what that tricky bastard was up to now.

* * *

_**Author's Note**_**-**

**Hey everyone. So, posting a few hours late. Just couldn't find a stopping point, so I kept going, and going, and going... Like the energizer bunny, but with a keyboard. **

**Thanks to all of you for all the love and encouragement. I promised more explosions, and now we have Avenger-tension, a few explosions (of physical and emotional nature), and an all new OC. **

**Have a fantabulous Memorial holiday, American readers. Non-American readers, it's a holiday where we honor our fallen soldiers by cooking boatloads of meat on a grill. (Not really, it's a very respectful holiday for our soliders. Please don't blast me with hate mail.)**


	9. Chapter 9

**And to reiterate a (sad but true) factual statement: I don't own anything Marvel has produced, written, copyrighted, etc... except the OC and this story, it's all just borrowed for the time being. **

* * *

Meanwhile, in Asgard...

Screaming filled the royal chamber. Two handmaidens rushed in, only to be ordered to leave by the King himself. Odin sat by his wife, his beloved Frigga, as she slept. Though she slumbered, her body was tense, her eyes wide open in fear, and she screamed in fear. Odin could only clutch her hand, and for the first time in his very long existence, he felt truly out of control.

Thor waited in the antechamber, at the door of the bedchamber. Never before had his mother been so overwrought. This was new and, paired with Loki's recent transgressions, altogether worrying. Though Thor knew his brother thought him a dull, dense creature (Loki had never wasted an opportunity to mock his intellect) he could feel the connections. He felt Loki's machinations behind everything now; it was as though (to borrow a Midgardian expression Jane was fond of) the wool had been pulled from his eyes.

His brother. His own brother created this mess. Truly, he could not understand how Loki had fallen so far. He thought back to their early years, when they were constant companions. They were together through lessons, through mayhem and childhood foolishness. Even on the eve of their birthright ceremonies, they were still blood-sworn brothers. How had that changed?

The screaming stopped, and Thor stepped into the bedchamber cautiously. Odin still sat at the side of the bed, but Frigga, his courageous mother, who had stood by Odin through countless battles, was now curled into her husband's side. Her face was buried in Odin's neck and her shoulders shook. Thor could hear her weeping, could see the pain and anguish on his father's face.

_'When will their betrayal of your birthright be satiated, brother? What pain must you inflict before your retribution is attained?'_

The healer, Eir, rushed past Thor, and was allowed entrance. She hurried to the queen's side, only to be waved off. Frigga sat up resolutely, her eyes red-rimmed and her face pale, but determined.

"No, I am fine. There is nothing that you can do here, my lady Eir." Frigga managed a small smile. "Please, go back and attend your patients."

Eir's quiet voice was skeptical. "Are you certain, my queen? You seem... rather shaken."

"No, thank you. I shall be fine." The steel that backed Frigga's words was enough to soothe the healer's worries. Eir bowed low, and then exited swiftly.

Once they were alone, Odin stood up and walked over to the window. Not turning to face the room again, he asked, "What troubles my queen?"

Frigga's eyes closed, and she responded quietly. "There is danger ahead, my king. I cannot say, but..." she turned to Thor and opened her eyes, her gaze boring into Thor's eyes. "Our sons are at risk. All of Asgard... perhaps all of the universe, I cannot tell. Nothing is clear yet, but a menace is approaching us. And I am not sure we will be able to stop it this time."

Odin turned from the window casing, his face lined with anger. "Our _sons_ are in danger? Our _sons_... our realm is in danger because one of our _sons_ has decided it was necessary to invade an entire realm and start a war!"

"Father, this rage is blinding you from mother's sight!" Thor shouted back.

Odin's eyes narrowed as he stared as Thor. "Asgard will not fall. I will empty all of Valhalla and Hellheim and all of the realms if that is what it takes to keep Asgard secure. There is no threat so great that will overtake our realm."

"Have care of how you speak, Father. It was not that long ago that we were threatened by the Svartálfar, and the Frost Giants."

"They did not threaten us! They **dare not** threaten us!" Odin raged.

"Do you doubt my words, my king?" Frigga asked, once again composed. She looked at Odin, quietly challenging him to question her.

All at once, Odin stepped back and sat down into the nearest chair. "Of course not, my queen. Your visions have always proved true. I simply state that, however vast our universe is, nothing will be able to harm Asgard while I am King."

* * *

Screaming. Terror - pure unadulterated terror given voice in one long, agonizing scream.

_That_ is what woke Loki. At first, his sleep-addled mind thought he was back on that rock, with the Other. He thought the screams were his, the pain was his... and then Loki realized he could open his eyes. As he did, he tested his magic again - just a simple conjuration of some clothes - just to prove that his magic was _his_ again. His alone.

Pain. Terror. _Agony_.

The screaming started again. They grew louder, more frequent. No words - just screaming.

Shaking his head, Loki quickly stood and rushed through the library towards the door, towards the sounds. Upon opening the door, he found himself deposited into the main hallway of Rift's home in the mountain valley. Quickly stepping through, Loki turned around to pinpoint the location of the screams just as the door slammed shut behind him.

He'd been locked out of Rift's wing of the house. He rattled the door handle but the door held fast, as though it was welded to the wooden frame.

"Kicked you out, did she?" Cass sat in her wheelchair at the far corner of the hallway, and her brogue was thick with worry. "Won't let me near her either. I've tried - no' like I can get in there most days - but the door disappears when I get close now." She wheeled herself a little closer to Loki, still keeping her eyes on the door in case it disappeared again.

"What can be so terrifying that she would not permit entry?" Loki asked, still studying the locked door. His hands traced the doorframe, feeling the latent power sealing the door shut, and looking for any small way in.

"I dunno." Cass said quietly. "She's had some bad times, wha' with the visions and the explodin' herself an' all... but it has never been like this." She rolled herself just an inch closer, and the door disappeared right under Loki's hands. His power started stuttering as well, the green glow around his hands sputtering. Cass sighed and rolled back to the corner; the door reappeared just as Loki's magic reasserted itself. "Friggin' useless." She said to herself.

The screaming stopped. The silence hung heavy over the hallway. They heard Rift shout. "No. No! NO!" before she screamed again.

"Damn it!" Loki shouted. He closed his eyes and tried to force the door to open with all of his power, but nothing budged.

"No luck?" Cass asked, worry making her voice sound higher than usual.

Loki stopped and centered himself quickly. "There's always more than one way to skin a cat." He closed his eyes again, and focused on teleporting himself back to where he slept, in the library. He felt a hint of movement and opened his eyes to find he had indeed been successful. He was back in the library in Rift's side of the house, right next to the chair he had slept in. _Good to know the recall spell still works perfectly_, he noted to himself before he strode quickly to the door. This time, he felt the doorframe and _felt_ the circuitous path that Rift had lain for the library doorway. Using his power to interrupt her bypass spell, he shorted it out and opened the library door into the hallway of Rift's wing.

The screams were lessening now, punctuated by sobbing at the end. Loki took two long strides across the hallway to the closed door of what could only be Rift's room, judging by the sounds coming out of it. Not wanting to be caught by the same bypass spell twice, Loki felt the doorway quickly to ensure there were no bypasses or alternate routes planned upon opening. Finding none, he opened the door.

The room was dark. It was late afternoon, if the sunlight streaming through the library windows had been any indication earlier, but this room was as dark as pitch. Absently Loki flicked his hand and a ball of green light appeared in his palm, which he lobbed quietly up towards the ceiling. The room was messy - books and papers covered the two desks in the corner, a decent portion of the floor next to them, and were awkwardly stacked in the windowseat on the far wall. The bed, shoved against the wall opposite the corner desks, had more books and parchment all around the edges and spilling onto the floor. In the middle of the bed, though, was Rift, and she was sobbing in her sleep. Her body arched and writhed, and her hands reached out in front of her, as if grabbing something, or someone.

"No... Idiot! You can't... NO!"

Loki never hesitated. He ran to the bed and began to shake Rift awake. Well aware of the burden of foresight, thanks to his mother (whom he still acknowledged as such), he knew the dangers in raising Rift from her visions prematurely. However, by the looks of it this vision was causing her unbearable agony, and that would not do.

"Rift. Rift!" He knelt on the bed, avoiding the piles of parchment and other scattered sundries. Reaching out, he shook her shoulder gently. "Damn, woman, will you wake?" The vision had her firm in its grip, though, and she stubbornly refused to open her eyes. Loki closed his eyes and leaned forward, until his lips just grazed her ear. "_Rift_..." he whispered, and he reached out to gently caress her face.

* * *

All at once her eyes popped open, wide with fright. "Loki. LOKI?!" She sat up, suddenly, bumping heads with Loki in the process. "Lok... OW!" She rubbed her head, glaring at him. "What in Hades' left testicle are you doing in here?"

Loki sat back on the bed, covering his own head with his hand. "At the moment, I am nursing the wound acquired trying to make sure you weren't murdering an army of screaming banshees in your sleep." He balefully glared back at her. "Do you make it a habit to headbutt all your prospective bedmates?"

Rift laughed weakly. "No, only the ones who enter my room uninvited."

"Your screams led me to believe you were in danger."

"No..." Rift's voice carried a faraway tone now, and she looked up, into the dark room dimly lit by Loki's magelight. "Not me. But... so much pain. So much fear." She turned to Loki and even in the dark the fear was plain in her eyes. "I'm scared I won't be enough... there won't be any time." She was trembling.

Loki grabbed her hands and held them together, covering them with his hands. Leaning over, he looked into her eyes. "Tell me truly, magelet. Has there _ever_ been a time where you didn't have enough power to help when you wanted?"

"No."

He felt the veracity of her answer, and gave her a small, encouraging smile. "There. And just think," he released her hands and hopped of the bed with a flourish. "With me as your tutor, there will never be any reason to doubt yourself again."

Rift nodded, and started moving towards the edge of the bed. When her feet hit the ground, she stopped, and turned to him. "Wait. Did you just say '_potential bedmates_'?"

Loki's laughter was her only answer as he transported out of the room.

* * *

_**Author's Note:  
**_**  
Hey guys! First of all, thank you so, so much to everyone who has been following and reviewing this story. Being my first one, your words of encouragement mean the world to me. Also I want to apologize for the relatively short nature of this update; I've been prepping for Con, and been ill, and apparently my work still wants me to "show up" and "work". Weird, right? So, I want you to know that a grand scheme is in the works for this story - next chapter will bring back the Avengers, and some other, more serious issues. Rift still needs an insane amount of training... it's gonna be fun.**

**Thank you (again, a million times over) to Mayflowrs, without whom I'd have lost what little remains of my sanity and my passion to keep this story going. And to all the faithful readers, you guys are fantabulous, and I'm grateful you all choose to read my scribblings.**

**PS - This story's got over 25 followers. Over 25! I want to hug all of you - in a completely platonic, non-stalkery sort of way. **


	10. Chapter 10

Bruce threw up his hands in exasperation. "I don't get it!" Pushing his chair away from the desk, he leaned back and began to spin himself in a circle in the middle of the room.

Hawkeye, sitting on the stairs, kept one eye Bruce's mental meltdown. "If I ask 'what's wrong', am I going to be able to decipher an answer out of you, Doc?"

Bruce stood and started pacing back-and-forth in the room. "The readings don't make any sense. Loki's energy signal is giving us readings that are all over the place - like the guy's in twelve places at once. But once we narrow down a location, the energy signal drops, and pops up again somewhere else. And through all of this, he's still reading as here, in the jail." Bruce dumped himself back into the desk chair and sighed, running his hands through his hair. "We're even running facial recognition patterns on every registered camera through SHIELD's system, just in case. Nothing." Bruce leaned forward, gesturing to the many screens in front of him, all searching for energy signatures, tracking bracelets, and Loki's specific Jotun-Asgardian facial structure. "He's playing us, I can feel it. But I can't figure out his game."

"Maybe it's time to take a step back, Doc." Hawkeye stood and motioned for Bruce to follow him. "There's something I need to show you."

They made their way down to the holding cell where Loki was kept. They stood outside the doors, peering through the one-way window into the holding cell room. Hawkeye kept his eyes on Loki the entire time he spoke to Bruce. "Have you spent any time watching him, Doc?"

Bruce shook his head. "No, no I can't say that I have." He turned to Clint. "Frankly, I'm a little concerned that you have, though."

"No Doc. Seriously. Just look at him."

Bruce turned away from Clint, shaking his head, and focused on the imprisoned demigod. He could feel the Other Guy's disdain referring to Loki as a god - a deep chuckle rang through the back of his head, and the words "puny god" floated through his consciousness. As he continued to observe Loki, though, he began to understand what Hawkeye was saying.

The would-be Ruler of Earth sat in the furthest corner of his cell on the floor. His legs were crossed under him, and he was grinning as wide as a Cheshire cat while staring at the wall just past his posted guards. The breakfast, which had been slid into his cell hours earlier, lay cold and untouched on the tray. His eyes, though - his eyes were practically vibrating. The pupils kept shifting back and forth, back and forth between two random points on the wall. They moved so fast it was almost as if his eyes were only a blur of green. And his face was grey. Not pale, but honest-to-goodness cement colored.

The scene before him sent shivers down Bruce's spine. As he kept watching, his skin started to crawl, and Bruce could feel the layers of protection he kept in his consciousness, the layers which kept him and the Other Guy separate, start dissolving.

"Hey!"

Bruce shook himself as Natasha leisurely strolled down the hall towards them. When she got closer, she looked into Bruce's eyes and grabbed his hands. "Hey big guy. You ok?"

Bruce smiled at her gamely, then squeezed her hands for reassurance. "Yeah. Sorry, just... I think Clint's right. Something's wrong with our guest here. And I'm not certain, but with all the disturbances lately - that's not our original prisoner." He pulled his hands back from Natasha's and immediately missed the comforting, steady warmth she gave him.

* * *

Stark flew over the the northern area Pennsylvania's Appalachian Mountain region. So far, Jarvis had detected patterns of the signature energy from the earlier attacks in this region, but had failed to pinpoint an exact location. Steve had volunteered to take one of the SHIELD jets to survey southern Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Surprisingly, Fury had no problem lending them one of the million-dollar jets... though Tony wondered if he'd see a bill for that later.

"Any readouts on your end, Captain Tightpants?"

Tony heard Cap sigh into the comms. "That's the best you can come up with, Stark?"

"Don't worry about it. What's the reading for your area?"

"Still pretty steady."

"Okay. I'm gonna circle back one more time. Got a few funky readings just west of Scranton."

"Good. Keep me posted. We'll rendezvous at the Tower in one hour."

"Got it, Sir Spanglebottom." Tony switched off the comm before he could hear Rodgers' response.

* * *

Rift stared at the ceiling. The book she was currently reading - or trying to read - dangled loosely in her grip. She sat upside-down in the chair in the library, her feet hanging over the headrest and her head laying on the floor. Her hair spilled out under her, a halo of brown-copper-bronze framing her face. The remains of dinner - a modest fare of grilled cheese and tomato soup - sat on the table next to her, growing cold, while she lay lost in thought.

Loki smiled. It was time to stir the pot, so to speak.

"You'll give the ceiling a complex, staring at it so hard."

His voice startled Rift, and she toppled over onto the floor, her feet barely missing the table holding her plate of food. The book hit her in the head with a solid _thunk. _She lay in a cluster of arms and legs and hair, and Cassandra burst out laughing watching the whole scene.

"Now, now, magelet," Loki tutted, "We can't have you disgracing yourself like that. A student of mine must remain strive for dignity and control at all times." He strutted over, offering her his hand. "It is time to begin your training. Would you like some assistance?"

Loki heard a growl as his answer before he felt his feet slide out from under him. He gracefully rolled to the side, so as to not fall on Rift - even as a slender shadow to his _brother_, he still weighed considerably more than any Earthly mortal. Instead, he landed on the floor, kneeling. The coffee table was on it's side, only inches away from having impacted Loki's skull, and the carpet, which previously had been sitting quite innocuously on the floor, was now piled in Rift's hands. Her smile was triumphant and her eyes danced with mirth as she noted Loki tried (and failed) to compensate for his fall with magic. Cassandra, meanwhile, was rolling with laughter at the two of them.

"Still not quite used to having a void in the house, are you, trickster?" Rift asked, her voice light, her eyes sparkling.

Loki's eyes narrowed a bit, before he felt his face break out in a smile. "Not exactly. But I haven't always relied on magic to keep people on their toes, and I doubt I will need it to keep up with you here." With that, he pounced on her. She tried to use the carpet to block him, but he was quicker and had years of training on her. He quickly bound her to the floor with the small living room rug she had pulled out from under him, and proceeded to keep the carpet pinned down with his knees while his hands steepled under his chin.

"Dear me..." he said, his voice dropping. "It seems I have a magelet trapped all to myself. Whatever shall I do...?"

* * *

trapped. trap. Trapped. **Trap. TRAPPED**

Rift's mind circled. She didn't see Loki right in front of her face. She didn't hear Cassandra laughing at the recent antics.

All she felt was a large, imposing figure looming over her. Pinning her.

Trapping her.

As her mind spiraled, her body froze. Her eyes grew glassy, unfocused, as all she could feel was confinement. Her right hand began twitching, pulling for her magic.

Cass' laughter died as she focused on her friend. It was surreal, to be sure. Her friend, the veritible personification of magic and light itself, had started wrestling with the freaking God of Mischief and Trickery... and had almost had the upper hand. Until Loki's reflexes kicked in, and he was on top of her now. Loki and Rift had been play-fighting, laughing, having a grand ol' time, just having a laugh.

But then Rift's laughter stopped. Her eyes lost focus and Cass could see that Rift's body was as rigid as a post. And the blue sparks started. "Shite, Loki. Call it off." The sparks were bouncing off of the black flowing shirt that Loki was wearing, and skittering across the rug that had been bundled across Rift's legs. Nothing had caught on fire (yet), but Cass was unsure if it would behoove her to move closer to Rift, calming the sparking energy, or to back away and let her friend tear herself loose from her personal demons... screw Loki, he was a fucking God. He could handle himself.

Loki, for his part, stayed put. His only concession to Rift's condition was to push his body up, putting a few more inches of space in-between their bodies.

"Magelet." His voice wasn't teasing now. It was dark, serious. His eyes focused on Rift's, imploring her attention. He pulled his right hand up and put it under Rift's chin, aligning her face with his.

_Flick. Flick. Flick_

Cass pulled herself back, slowly. The air in the sitting room began to stir, in the area furthest from Cass. Pages, letters, and open books (as there were always a few laying around) began to rustle in the corner, and the walls began to vibrate.

Loki stood his ground.

"Magelet." No response. The blue sparks flying off of Rift's hands became brighter, stronger. One of them hit Loki squarely in the chest, and started smouldering on his shirt. "Damnation!" Loki said, but held himself above her, focusing solely on Rift.

"Rift. Look at me." His voice held a deep, magnetic quality that even Cass felt, her eyes glued to the pair.

The breath Cass had been holding rushed out, as her slightly rug-bound friend began to breathe normally again. Rift's eyes blinked a few times, her eyes grew wide, and her eyebrow cocked.

"Loki? Uhm... Why is your shirt smoking?"

* * *

After the dust settled, and the sitting room set to rights (as Cass would skin her alive if she left the room in an upturned status), Rift sat outside near Loki. He had been pensive since the incident in the sitting room, as one could probably expect after witnessing the near psychotic meltdown of a being capable of taking out half a planet. Quietly, after the sitting room had been put to rights, he beckoned her to follow him and he walked out of the house and down towards the lake. Rift felt the nervous tension roil in the pit of her stomach and had sat down as soon as Loki stopped.

The contrast between the chaos inside and the peace outside was jarring. The moon above, near full, provided plenty of light to see the far down the shoreline and Rift could clearly see the silhouette of Loki standing a few feet away. Frogs chirruped in the distance, and an owl must have been somewhere near the treeline across the lake, as quiet hoots occasionally drifted across the water.

Rift, for her part, felt awful. Yes, she had succeeded in her first few missions - finding Loki, securing his help, and escaping with him without alerting the Avengers to her presence (she hoped). But now... she was a ticking time bomb. And though Loki was a God, he wasn't indestructible. The more time he spent with her, the more chances there were for him to be blown to kingdom come, unless she managed to harness her power. He'd given his word to mentor her, yes, but surely there was an insanity escape clause for bargains such as these?

"Did I not tell you earlier that I despise repetition? You're not getting rid of the that easily." Loki said.

"Sorry?" she asked, disturbed from her internal self-flagellation.

"Your thoughts are written all over your face. You're thinking of how to break our bargain, because you want to _save_ me." Loki snorted, his eyes still fixed on the lake ahead. "It's ridiculous. No one can _save_ me, magelet. I am beyond your redemption."

"Stupid."

Angrily, Loki turned to her, sneering in contempt. "Who are you, to put value on my life? Not two weeks ago I led an army against your planet. I killed hundreds of souls in a battle to take over your pitiful world. And you still choose to try and protect me?" He shook his head, a small, self-deprecating chuckle escaping his lips. "No. There is no redemption for me. Do not waste your time."

"So, what, you'd rather go out in a fireball the size of a planet, all because I can't control myself and my head isn't on straight? You'd rather sacrifice yourself on the altar of stupidity than admit to anyone that you were controlled?"

Loki's eyes flared. "Do not toy with me, magelet. What happened in New York was all..."

"Bullshit. It was bullshit, Loki, and you gorram well know it." Rift stood, dusting herself off and facing him. "I watched the invasion as best I could, without interfering. You. Were. Possessed."

"I will remove your lying tongue out of your mouth if you continue." His voice was laden with malice, but the intent never reached his face. Instead, he looked shocked.

"It was your eyes that gave it away."

Loki pulled himself back. "What?"

"Your eyes. Sure, it was your body, your voice... but not your eyes."

They stood silently facing each other for a full minute before Loki chose to speak first. His voice was quieter now, laced with... concern? Despair? "No one will believe you."

Rift just shrugged. "Nothing new for me. But, why not leave here, exonerate yourself? I won't chase after you."

"This wasn't my first misguided bid for power."

"Shocker."

Loki raised an eyebrow and almost smiled, challenging her to continue.

"C'mon. You're the youngest, right? You look nothing like your brother. That git may as well have a bright shiny halo and a neon sign flashing above his head that says 'HERO MATERIAL' on him. Gonna take a guess that he was the crowd favorite from the beginning, right? How else does the black sheep of a royal family try to bid for attention?"

For his part, Loki looked faintly shocked as his life story was succinctly was laid out before him.

Rift continued: "Anyways, you might be insane, but you're also disgustingly intelligent, and usually a streak of self-preservation genrally goes hand-in-hand with that." She looked him directly in the eyes now, without hesitation. "So why stay here? I'm a few bricks short of a load, with enough energy to level half of the planet if I get distracted. You know it. You've known since you met me. Screw your oath - just go."

"How little you must think of me."

"Sorry?" Rift looked taken aback.

"To think that I would be forsworn on this. To think that I would just _give up_, when you're presenting me with one of the best challenges I've gotten in centuries." He began to circle her, as she stood, trying to follow his movements without turning her head around 360 degrees, like an owl. "Besides, you still owe me a favor, little magelet. A favor to be named in the future. That's a powerful gift, little magelet." He stood in front of her again. He ducked his head down, and his mouth was just scant millimeters away from her ear. "A favor I still intend to collect." he whispered in her ear. She shivered as his breath washed over her, and she turned her head slightly to look into his eyes. She saw his smile, and in his eyes, determination and... respect, maybe.

It would do.

"All right. When do we start?"

* * *

_***ahem***_

**I'd like to say that I'm s...  
**

**I'm really sorr...  
**

***clears throat***

**Sorry. I'm sorry. I meant to update sooner, but I changed jobs, and my home computer died, and I was then summarily eaten by bears. Large bears. Angry, large bears.**

**However, this story just won't leave me alone. So, I'm gonna keep trying, if you, dear readers, will still put up with me. **

**And please note that if you review, I'll give you a pony. Or, y'know, more chapters. Whichever.**


	11. Chapter 11

**I own not a single whit of anything Marvel related. This story is of my own design, but past that, it's all borrowed. BORROWED.**

The air in the room was still. Loki sat on the floor, leaning his back against the foot of his bed. The last few days had brought many new prospects, changes, and while his body might currently static, his mind kept running, running, running...

_The potential, the energy of her. _Loki knew that he wouldn't be able to exploit her, not yet. But when he tried to piece her into his plans, his chest clenched. _Sentiment,_ he sneered at himself, but shook his head. It felt almost comforting, knowing that someone trusted him as implicitly as she did. Only Frigga had ever shown him the same deference, though even her compassion had paled during his most recent actions. If only he could _explain_, could tell them that the invasion had been quarantined by his interference in Thanos' plan, they would be lauding him instead of his oafish would-be brother. But that was an issue for another time.

After Odin's revelations on his true parentage and his following ill-timed coup, he chose to let go of his adoptive family, falling into the blankness of space instead of facing his "father". He had been torn, burned by their betrayal and their lies. At that moment, he would've rather been forgotten than to accept the truth. It was then that the Other had found him... and subsequently broken him. Though his body suffered the brunt of the Other's ministrations, his mind had been far from safe. He had been just barely been able to keep his autonomy, his sanity dangling by a thread by the time the Invasion on New York had begun. He had known his brother would attempt to stop the Chitauri, had known that Stark and his ilk would also be on hand to help as well. Loki had done what he could to center the invasion in the spot most likely to have maximum defensive capabilities while still assuring his _master_ that this was his plan, that this army would be successful and he was still their pawn. He had been successful, the invasion had been stymied, yet the price had been his freedom... until Rift appeared.

The magelet had talent, and **power**... so much raw power and energy. The texts that Loki had read in pursuit of his craft did not outline anything of this magnitude to his estimation. There were others of her nature truly documented, but they never survived to adulthood. If they didn't burn out, they were captured, enslaved, held for as long as their bodies would hold out, mindless husks of their former selves. The energy their body generated was siphoned off for used by other mages until their bodies finally gave up. Rift had mentioned "other tutors", but the insinuation left him with the impression that the teachings were sparse and ill-gained. He noted how Rift had shied from personal contact several times, even in the diner with her friend, that talkative waitress. He knew that caution was ingrained, hard-bought by what had to have been a lifetime of broken trust. That nature would have been similar to his own, before he learned to control himself. Once Loki had learned that such weakness could be exploited, he honed his personal skills, his silver tongue offering him both grace and protection from the snide courtiers and followers of the Asgardian court. The additional benefit of his persuasiveness lent him benefits in political situations where his brother could not hope to compete.

Loki noted that his visceral need to protect Rift had started just after they had escaped from Stark Tower. Loki knew that the magelet had the ability to protect her, but he felt responsible for her welfare now. He was sincere when he offered to help her. However, when she offered to set him free of the agreement because _she_ was concerned for _his_ welfare... that was the moment she had earned his trust. The playful banter between them was a fun side note of the whole adventure. Her nature had allowed Loki to forget the current troubles, to just enjoy the moments as they came. It was both enlightening and frightening. He felt that he was losing control of his emotions around her, but that was part of the challenge. The challenge, then, was to get her to trust him fully, until she was completely comfortable with him. Loki knew what he wanted of her: he wanted _more_.

There were inherent dangers in continuing to help Rift, and they weren't all her issues. The Other would be hunting for him, Loki was sure of it. In fact, the plan Loki had prepared for that eventuality was being altered to include Rift now, if she would help. Loki intended to keep his end of the bargain, and knew she would hold up hers... he assumed that stripping the Other of his power would still fulfill his agreement that she would _"do no harm"_ to any living thing. After all, the Other wasn't technically alive, as one would define it. The Avengers were surely hunting for him as well, if not now, then soon. While the Hollow Rift had created was well protected, it was virtually impossible to stay hidden forever. And Loki knew that Rift had to have others on her trail as well, hunting her for that bountiful energy that made her such a danger to herself.

Loki stood up and shook himself, a smile shining in the darkness. Oh yes, there were so many challenges ahead. So much to do, so much _fun_ to be had.

* * *

"It is a golem." Thor stated, staring through the window of the holding cell.

"A what now?" Clint asked as he stepped back, his hand itching for his bow.

Thor shook his head and stepped away from the window, facing his allies. The SHIELD agents had been cleared out for safety reasons, and the entire motley crew of Avengers had assembled down next to the holding cell. Steve and Tony were still in uniform, fresh from their scan of the upper Appalachian region, called back when the monster in the cell had started shrieking. It no longer resembled Loki at all; instead, Loki's face had dripped down like warm candlewax, leaving a melted gray mess in its wake. Two dark holes remained where eyes could have been, and one large mouth gaped wide, shrieking its displeasure to all and sundry. It had then taken to tearing bits of remaining "flesh" that hadn't sloughed off, tossing it aside to melt and disintegrate before samples could be taken by Jarvis. For everyone's sanity the speaker to the cell had been turned off, but the golem continued the relentless shrieking undisturbed. The overall effect was bone chillingly macabre.

"That, there," Thor pointed behind him, "is a golem. A creature of magical creation. It takes power, and time." He stepped towards Tony, his eyes blazing as they bore down into the smaller man's. "You assured me this would not be able to happen, friend Stark. What happened?"

"Whoa, easy there, Fabio. My tech worked perfectly."

"That, in there, is **not my brother**. It was your technology that..."

_Sir..._

"My

tech worked as promised. It was field-tested and worked exactly as promised..."

_Sir._

"If it had worked as promised, we would not be dealing with a golem right now."

_Sir, if I may interject...?_

"Not now_, _Jarvis! Can't you see that we are busy?

_Quite right, sir. I only interrupted to point out that I have been able to analyze the power fluctuations from your last scan of the mountain region and cross-referenced it with the data from the last 168 hours. There is a direct correlation with some of the energy that was picked up in the mountains and the same energy spikes we saw approximately 53 hours ago._

Thor and Tony stepped back from each other. The other Avengers stepped back as well, save for Bruce, who had sauntered as casually as possible to the elevator. He turned around and stepped back to the group. "Say what now?" Tony asked Jarvis, his head cocked.

A large holo-screen popped up in front of the group with a detailed map of the northeastern United States. _If you see here, here and here_, areas of the map began to highlight, _the energy signatures in these areas are distinctly similar to the disturbances in the building a few days ago. And if you look here_, a highlight appeared, faintly, near Stark Tower, _this energy reading could be similar as well. This one registers from approximately 7 days ago._

"Just after we put Loki away." Tony muttered quietly, just loud enough that everyone heard him.

"So my brother..."

"Had an accomplice. Or accomplices. Someone who was able to get in, distract us, sidestep Jarvis and run out with the most wanted villain this side of the galaxy." Clint said.

"Someone who did it without harming him. Or us." Natasha pointed out, staring at the map.

"Someone who is now providing food and shelter to a monster who allowed thousands of people to be hurt or injured while trying to take over our planet." Tony spat out.

Natasha nodded. "Fair."

"It should be noted that whoever has done this, has a fair hand with the use of magic. This golem was not a simple construction - they are a higher form of magic that takes immense power. The persons you are looking for will likely not give up my brother without a fight," Thor's fist tightened as if seeking the heft of Mjolnir as he continued, "and I imagine it would be a fight we would do well to prepare for ahead of time."

Everyone looked around for a moment, looking around the holding cell area waiting for doom to befall them. When nothing happened, Clint shrugged. "Ok, well, that's generally ominous. In the meantime, what do we do with the melting clay monster in the cell?"

Thor shrugged. "I have never come across one in all of my travels."

"It's basically clay now, right? Since it doesn't have its host form?" Natasha asked, and Tony's face brightened.

"Jarvis, run a fire code for cell number 4, authorization 42-Alpha-Sigma-Sigma."

_Certainly, sir. Fire alarm code for cell location number four. Initiating the sprinkler system._

The fire alarm blared in the cell housing unit, and inside Loki's former cell water started flowing from the ceiling. Everyone watched through the glass panels as the water began to stream down the monster's body, rivulets digging into its clay-like skin. Its body slowly became waterlogged and sloughed off into the discreet drains located in the floor. As the evidence of Loki's escape melted away, the Avengers pondered their next moves and tried to ignore Tony doing his very best melting witch impression from _The Wizard of Oz_.

* * *

The next day, Rift entered the room Loki had prepared for her training. It was a wide open room that she had previously used as a library. The shelves had been removed along with their contents to the main library, where space had been added to accommodate the new acquisitions. Instead, the room had a few lit sconces lining the walls, and the art that had set in the room remained, little acquisitions that Rift had stumbled upon in various travels. There was no set theme or reason to her acquisitions, save that each one made Rift happy when she saw them, so she had taken (borrowed, bought, and occasionally absconded with) them until the second library was a place she could relax.

The center of the room now had a large protective circle etched into the stone flooring. A few feet into the room, Rift felt strong wards pull at her when she crossed the threshold. She held herself still for a moment, feeling the wards, savoring their flavor and creation. Deftly built, the wards prevented any magic from penetrating the circle. However Loki had also woven in a strong counter to magic _leaving_ the circle, which was prudent, if she were to practice effectively without drawing undue attention, as well as allowing safe passage for the two of them. She smiled as the wards tingled along her skin and savored the flavor of the magic, as it reminded her of the god himself: a little flashy, but deftly built with a hint of that indefinable _something_ that made her comfortable in Loki's presence.

Speaking of the devil himself, he stood in the center of the circle, his eyebrow cocked as he studied her entrance. He looked amused as she paused, and she knew she had been caught testing his wards. Rift shrugged it off and moved towards the center, to stand in front of Loki. He had dressed in his typical black boots, black pants, deep green tunic-style shirt with a black leather vested overlay. Rift herself was in jeans (mostly clean), a black t-shirt and some black chucks, reasoning that if she was going to have to sit through lessons on magic she wanted to be comfortable. When she compared herself to Loki though, she felt like a street urchin next to a prince (which was a remarkably apt comparison, if she thought about it). Which, considering she was keeping him captive made for an unsettling role reversal she had not considered when she had first came up with this harebrained plan.

To be fair, she hadn't known what to expect when she plotted to kidnap an insane Asgardian and force him to teach her magic, but she certainly hadn't expected to feel so comfortable in his presence. That morning as she, Loki and Cass sat down to breakfast, they surprisingly had a good time. There was French toast, bacon, and orange juice, all courtesy of Cass' "mad culinary skills". Cass had popped open one of her precious pomegranates and began mixing the pips in with her French toast and maple syrup, jealously hoarding her fruit from the other two at the table. Rift asked Cass about the latest news and headlines, and Cass, in a small bit of diplomacy, managed to update the two of them on the current local and national goings-on without mentioning the New York invasion or any of the resulting fallout. Loki had even complimented the breakfast and politely asked for some clarification on some of the topics Cass had mentioned with no ulterior motives that Rift could discern.

After Cass left, Rift took care of the dishes. After he finished, Loki had stood and handed Rift his plate as she stood near the sink. Her eyes glowed blue, and her hair had begun to dance around her head as the dishes from the breakfast meal dunked themselves through the soapy water, into the rinsing bin, and then into the drying rack. While the dishes bathed, the counters were being scrubbed clean of their own accord and a new pot of coffee was beginning to brew. Instead of looking pleased at the effort Rift put forth to clean the kitchen, Loki had looked distinctly upset. He studied Rift for a few minutes silently as the kitchen was being scrubbed. Then he turned, told her to look for him in the second library when she was done, and had left quickly.

Rift wasn't sure why this had displeased him. The kitchen was clean, wasn't it? Why did it matter *how* it got clean? So long as there weren't crumbs, attracting rats and ants and gods-knew-what-else, Cass was fine with it being cleaned however Rift wanted to, so what was the issue?

Rift studied Loki now. Gone was the smiling, mischievous man who had instigated a mock battle in the sitting room the night before. Before her now stood a different man: confident, quiet, assured. His hair was tied back in a low queue, his face steady and clear of the humor he had shown not moments before. Before she had a chance to question the change, Loki stopped her.

"Shall we begin?"

* * *

_**Author's Note:**_

**Have I ever mentioned how difficult it is to track Loki's train of thought? I'd have this chapter posted a week ago if it weren't for that damnable mad god. Oh, well. Thanks for hanging in there, readers. I swear on my fictitious great-aunt Murgatroyd that I will continue to post chapters in a semi-regular basis. I've mapped out the storyboard, and I'd like to get it all posted before**

**_Doctor Strange_ comes out. Really. END GAME HERE, PEOPLE. Ok, well, not *here* here, but I know what it is now.**

**Please help me out by continuing to rate, and review, and all that other stuff. I'll buy you a whole flock of flying ponies, or something of similar fictitious value.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Ahem. Do you know what I own of this? The OC. That. is. it.**

* * *

_Shall we begin..._

With that, Loki's eyes turned down and he began to pace in front of Rift. "Your challenge, magelet, is focus. Your energy is something a studied magic-user spends years, sometimes lifetimes, to control. You have more power than you know what to do with, so you continually burn it off in a thousand ways." He stopped pacing and his eyes flashed up to her. The flash of green against his face was mesmerizing; it took Rift a moment to steady her mind into paying attention to his words. "Your challenge then is a uniquely simple one." Loki nodded to a spot behind Rift. She turned around warily, unsure of what to expect...

"A candle...?" She turned back to him, confusion pulling her voice higher.

He smiled then, breaking his serious facade. "Yes, magelet. A single, solitary candle." He stepped closer to her, his body not but a few inches from hers. Rift tilted her head up to his face, one eyebrow raised. She noted the smell of leather, of the pine soap she had left in his bathroom, of something something that reminded her of fresh-fallen snow. "Your first lesson is to light this candle. A word of caution, though - the wards you stepped through have cut you off from all the extraneous power drains you normally employ. In this test it is just you, your power, and your focus." He bent forward now, whispering into her ear, and Rift swore she could feel his breath tickle her ear. "Good luck." With that he stepped back, and Rift found that she had to pull herself back from stepping forward, back into his space. If he noticed her near faux pas, his face didn't betray anything, as he had once again schooled his features into the earlier intimidating mask.

Turning to face her first obstacle, she tried not to laugh out loud. _A candle? _This_ is a test? Oookaaay..._ She shook herself and focused. A little spark to light the candle should be easy. One little spark...

Her copper hair started moving, and her hands were lined in blue energy as she started moving them, centering herself and focusing her energy, as her eyes focused on the candle wick. One little spark was all she needed.

One. Little. Spark. Just one.

She flicked her fingers toward the candle,

The resulting explosion really shouldn't have taken either of the inhabitants of the protective circle by surprise.

* * *

"I did say sorry, didn't I?"

"You did, yes. Your apologies have yet to help reproduce my eyebrows."

"Stop whinging. Hair takes time to regenerate properly, you know. I should have them growing back in about an hour or so."

"Hmph."

"... Loki?"

*sigh* "Yes, Magelet?"

"... Thanks."

"For what?"

"Staying."

"Do you know, Magelet, that you are the only person I've ever met who thanks me for my presence?"

"Huh."

* * *

The fireball had been contained in Loki's wards - barely. Surprisingly, there hadn't been much fallout, Loki's eyebrows notwithstanding. Rift was unsure that he hadn't just singed them off himself just to pull the sympathy card, but didn't comment. His hair, now partially disheveled with a few wisps having pulled out from the tight queue, had been relatively unscathed, yet his clothes were pristine and Rift could not find a single burn on his body from what she could see. She did spend some time looking over his exposed skin to make sure - she noted several scars, particularly over his hands, but they were old. His wrists bore scar tissue as well; piles of tissue that was in the late stages of healing. The skin looked like it had been deeply eaten into, or pulled, as if he had been chained... Rift softly touched the scars and moved on.

For his part, Loki checked to ensure Rift had not been injured as well beforehe sat down and allowed her time to make sure he was all right. The blast had shaken her, albeit not physically, but worry was clearly etched on her face. He allowed her ample time to assure herself that the fireball had not injured him.

Through the whole exchange they were quiet, neither saying a word about the shields thrown to protect the blast. After all, shielding was a natural defense mechanism for a mage if they wanted to survive. And if Rift's shield had been green-blue, and Loki's had been blue-green, neither of them chose to comment.

* * *

The next few days allowed a pattern to emerge in the Hollow. After breakfast (usually cold cereal or toast, as Cass kept a night owl's schedule) the pair would head off to work on Rift's lessons. Loki would assign her a simple task - light a candle, pour water from one glass to another, move some pebbles into a pattern drawn out in the protective circle - and Rift would then spend the rest of the morning trying to focus on her task. By mutual agreement, Loki stayed out of the circle after the first couple of days. On the surface, this was for Rift to hone her concentration, but it also allowed Loki the autonomy that he naturally craved. Typically he would stand outside the circle for a bit, but then he would wander the house, familiarizing himself with the new environment. Soon the lessons started shifting locations depending on Loki's mood. The lake by the hollow, the practice room, the main library. Cass had stopped them from working in the main rooms ("You do realize my electronics have to withstand yer presence now too, yeah?") but otherwise, anywere a protective circle could be drawn was fair game.

The pair would stop for a light lunch, usually leftovers scrounged from the previous night's dinner, with copious amounts of coffee for Rift. Then she would go back to her lesson while Loki scoured the library. He searched for tomes that held hints as to Rift's excess energy, for the tesseract, for any mention of the Chitauri or the Other that he could use. He'd always enjoyed researching, and Rift's library was as expansive as the official library on Asgard. She had told him she'd searched through most her books an answer, but had wholeheartedly agreed that a second pair of eyes could be beneficial.

Later, Rift would often check her other sources for any news - she had contacts across several realms that were looking for answers for her as well. She also had been called out several times mid-lesson - an emergency or something that required her immediate attention. She would just stop what she was doing and cock her head to the side, listening to summons that Loki could not hear. Then she'd nod, mouth "sorry" to Loki, and disappear. The times she was gone would vary - sometimes it would only be a few minutes, sometimes it would be several long hours. Loki would spend his time researching, mapping out the house and surrounding areas, or working on his plans.

There had been some hiccups in the first few lessons. After Loki would leave, Rift would abandon the lesson plan and start plotting ways to work around it. Loki had, of course, planned on such an eventuality. Doing anything other than the planned task resulted in swift, highly visible, sometimes embarassing, repercussions. Sometimes they were innocuous - one time her clothes, hair, and eyes had turned green, and she was unable to change them back before Loki returned. Other times they were not as innocent - one time, her shoes had started dancing continuously. Unable to remove the hex, Rift had opted to lose her shoes... though once Loki removed this particular charm, she had calmly picked up the shoes, walked serenely out of the protective circle, and then turned and launched them at his head. She had disappeared after that, and was gone for a good hour before Cass found her and forced her to go back to Loki and apologize. It had amused Loki that Rift had managed to apologize for the shoes narrowly missing his head (by his catlike reflexes) but somehow neglected to apologize for the act of throwing the shoes themselves at his person. Nevertheless, they continued on, and Rift learned to appreciate the lessons that Loki gave her, as much as Loki appreciated the challenge she presented him.

Dinnertime was often the only time that Rift, Cass and Loki sat together all day long, and they were a source of much consternation for Loki. The girls had, on accident, discovered how much Loki _hated_ recounting his times on Asgard, and thus decided the best course of action during dinner would be to play a game of "poke the bear". It started innocently enough, with Cass asking what type of meals Loki enjoyed on Asgard, so she could attempt to research and replicate them. Instead of waxing poetic about his favorite meals, Loki had instead turned reticent, his oft-animated face closing up as he replied with some slight venomous remark as to Asgardian foods. After a brief, shocked response, Rift then asked if they had different types of swear words in Asgard, which caused Loki to spit out the food he'd been chewing in shock-delight-disgust and raising his eyebrow at her, cattily asking if she'd run out of swears to hurl in his direction during their training. From then on, anything was fair game to compare to an Asgardian counterpart, from food, to furniture, to customs. Often Loki would sneer and try and deflect, but every once in a while, typically when Cass missed dinner and Rift was cooking, he would tell stories the other realms and their inhabitants, Vanaheim, Alfheim, Nidavellir and others. Though these were lighthearted anecdotes (often filled with the bumbling mess caused by Thor, which Loki would then fix with his usual subtlety and charm) he never mentioned more of his family, and he never spoke of Jotunheim.

* * *

Back at Stark Tower, Tony and Bruce had locked themselves in the lab for over a week. From the piles of empty energy drink cans and random food wrappers, the others assumed they were eating, but no one was able to actually lay eyes on the pair. The doors had been locked to "Elite Personnel Only", which apparently included Pepper, Tony, and Bruce. Pepper refused to bother Tony when he got into his groove, instead sending food and drinks into the lab at regular intervals. On the fifth day, Steve harangued Natasha into doing a "wellness check" on the brothers in science. She had returned an hour later, saying the boys were working on a project and they asked not to be disturbed. She also reported that the boys looked physically fine although sleep-deprived, and had been eating the food sent in, and both were desperately in need of a shower.

Eight days from the original isolation, Natasha and Clint walked into the main shared living room to find Bruce on the couch, his face buried in a pillow. Soft snoring cut through the silent room, and as Natasha walked closer she noted that Bruce was wearing the same clothes as she had seen three days ago. He had apparently been so desperate for a nap that his shoes remained on his feet, though the left one was dangling precariously by his toes. Nat grabbed a throw blanket and tossed it over the sleeping doctor, removed his shoes, and made sure his glasses were within reach. As she finished, she glanced up to see Clint watching her with a knowing smirk. His face paled as she leveled him with a glare and started stalking towards him, though it didn't stop him from exiting the room singing "Bruce and Natasha sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G..."

His screams which followed a few minutes later could have woken the dead, but they still didn't wake Dr. Banner.

* * *

A few days later, Tony gathered Steve, Natasha, and Clint down into the lab to show off the fruits of his labors with Bruce. The team was greeted with Tony modeling yet another new Iron Man suit. The new armor fit Tony like a glove, if that glove was made of metal and a first-world country's GNP worth of electronics. The new non-ferrous alloy that Tony had been working on had been put into production this time, along with some modifications to the scanning equipment, thrusters, hand-canons... the assembled group had initially been paying close attention when Tony started introducing his latest finished suit, but as Tony grew mired in the technical specifications without bothering to translate into English, their attention began to drift. It wasn't until Tony mentioned the navigation and tracking radar improvements that Steve's ears perked up.

"Wait, explain that one again."

"Well, you see..."

"In English."

"Oh. Jarvis, the Jolly Green Giant and i devised a system based on the energy signatures we've been reading, It's quite ingenious, really, but to put it in layman's terms, this suit can actually track that energy, even through it's organic frequency change - the energy changes signatures - and this allows us to track the changes as they happen, literally viewing the energy signature through the organic metamorphosis. We used simulations in the lab of both the attack on the tower and the ugly play-dough monster in the basement for our baseline. Moreover, the suit is able not only to detect it, but if there's an illusion, the radar can see through it. The main issue with the energy that our intruders used was that they projected some sort of solid illusions. This could negate any of those effects."

"If we can see it..."

"... and we can track it..."

"We can bring my brother back back."

Everyone in the room turned to see Thor striding in. He looked uneasy, his face taut, as he took his chair at the table.

"The news from Asgard is not good, my friends. My father is extremely upset that Loki has once again escaped our grasp, though his ire is tempered by our recent victory over the Chitauri. If we do not return Loki to Asgard to stand trial for his crimes, I am afraid that Odin will hold Earth responsible for his escape."

"Wait, he can hold an entire planet responsible for the escape of your fucking maniac of a brother?" Clint bit out angrily.

"It is within his power as the All-Father, yes, though I doubt he would seriously bring harm to anyone. Diplomatic ties would be severed, which means I would not be able to return for some time." Thor looked around the table wearily. "Father has more pressing troubles at the moment, though."

"Sorry, what could be more pressing that hunting down your psychotic adopted son before he tries to destroy the galaxy again?"

It was a few moments before Thor responded. When he did, his voice was shook with emotion. "My mother, Frigga, has taken ill. She is a seer of renown and her visions of late have caused her some great distress." Thor looked around before depositing himself wearily at a nearby desk chair. "Visions as strong as these do not come with good portent."

Tony cut the thrusters on his shiny new duds, allowing him to gracefully descend the few feet back to the floor. "So this means...?"

"Another fight?" Steve asked, his hand unconsciously searching for his shield.

"I fear that this may be greater than we can handle ourselves. If the visions are this strong, there is a great evil amassing an attack which could involve all of the Nine Realms."

Natasha sniffed, crossing her arms. "There hasn't been any chatter about another strike. The Chitauri are gone; HYDRA has gone underground; who would be leading it?"

Unfortunately, no one had any answers.

* * *

_**Author's Note**_**: I missed you guys.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Are you shocked to learn I don't own any of the rights to Marvel characters?**

**Yeah. Me too. But I do get the story and the OC, so I still win at life.  
**

* * *

A few weeks later, Rift found herself in the circle again. A table sat before her, with one candle, a pitcher of water with an empty glass sitting next to it, and one half-eaten banana. Taking a deep breath, Rift reached in and found her center, the wellspring of power that waited just below the surface of her consciousness. Exhaling, she opened her eyes and glared at the candle. The wick flared to life, a slow, even burn which Rift honored with a small smile before turning to the pitcher of water. She lifted her arm now, flicking her wrist as the water pulled from the pitcher and gracefully arced into the glass. When the glass was full, Rift smiled and released the water, allowing the excess back into the glass. Loki stood to the side, inside the warded circle, studying Rift as she continued her warm-up routine. The banana would be next; she was to hurry the decomposition process along until it melted, a tedious process which required a lot of concentration and only a small amount of energy. This warm-up had caused more issues of her flaring up than any of the others, but within the past few days she'd managed to consistently allow the organic material to degrade without any excess magical drains or explosions.

When she turned to the banana, Loki slipped up behind her. He kept his hands by his sides as he leaned down, his lips hovered a breath away from her ear as he whispered. "Focus, magelet." He hovered there for a second as Rift's outstretched hands paused for a moment before continuing. A small puddle of goo began to form under the banana as Rift tried her hardest to ignore Loki, his breath warm on her ear. Sensing a challenge, Loki chuckled softly, reaching a hand out and trailed his fingers down her neck. Goosebumps formed on Rift's skin as he continued the light touches, gently trailing his fingers down her neck to the edge of ther low collar. On the table, the banana began to deteriorate faster, the viscous brown sludge bubbling. The peel began to rapidly turn from vibrant yellow to black, the fruit melting away quickly.

Just before the stem of the banana melted down, Loki stepped forward, his legs brushing against the back of Rift's as he leaned his body into hers. He smiled and bent back down, whispering into her ear. "Concentrate." He whispered, his tongue darting out to caress the shell of her ear before giving her earlobe a small nip. Rift's body shook as the brown banana-goo on the table began to smoke and caught fire, igniting the table.

"Shit!" Rift lifted her arms and quickly extinguished the flames before spinning around to Loki, who smirked at her anger. "Goddamn it, Loki! I almost had it!" Her power flickered around her now, small flecks of light dancing around her body that were spurred on by her clear agitation.

Loki's face shifted quickly from playful to serious. "Almost?" He asked, his voice deceptively calm. "Almost? You brought me here to teach you control. To learn to harness your energy appropriately you need to concentrate. And to concentrate, magelet, you need to discount any distractions." He straightened himself and paced over to the table.

"_Distractions_?" Rift asked incredulously, a blush rising to her cheeks as her voice rose. "Are you kidding? You bit my ear!"

"Oh please, magelet." Loki turned and leaned against the table, again facing Rift as he studied his nails. "I did not _bite_ your ear." Slowly he raised his gaze to hers, his eyes smouldering. "I'm sure you can tell the difference between a _bite_ and a small taste."

Rift choked on her next words as her face turned redder and the energy around her began sparking furiously. Loki's face lost all playfulness as he caught her eyes again, stepping forward and reaching for her hands. "Breathe, magelet. Calm yourself and breathe." His thumbs rubbed small circles into her palms as she closed her eyes, forcing herself to calm down. In, out. In, out. In. Out. A minute later, the flecks of energy died down as she forced herself to relax. When she was calm, she nodded her thanks to Loki as she pulled her hands from his, banishing the wards and the protective circle so she could move to the other wall, putting as much distance as she could from her and Loki. Loki stood still for a small moment before following her. She'd leaned against the wall, her eyes closed as she replayed the daily warm-up in her head. He stood a foot away from her, deliberately keeping his hands down by his side as he spoke with her.

"If you're ever in battle, any number of things can come and distract you. If you want to learn, truly learn how to concentrate, to harness your true potential, you need to learn to ignore all the input from your body, all the signals that are sent to your brain as you properly set your spell."

A deep breath blew through Rift's lips before she answered. "I know, Loki, I know." She opened her eyes and looked at him, a rueful smile on her face as she continued. "I just wasn't expecting you to... but I guess that's the point, huh?"

"That, magelet, is _exactly_ the point."

* * *

A whoop of excitement sounded over the comm system. Tony had been surveilling different regions of the Appalachian mountains for the last few weeks. The new radar only worked at close range, about 50- to 100-feet at best. The energy emitted from the energy-users (Tony ardently refused to call them "magic users") was in a constant flux, and the constant re-calibration drew enormous amounts of energy, even from his arc reactor. This drain, combined with the flight-system energy needs, as well as the constant open lines of communication with both Rogers and Director Fury and need to reserve some energy in case another fight presented itself (Tony's suit was still stocked with some of his more explosive little toys) meant the search took more time than anyone anticipated. The Asgardians were getting frustrated with the lack of one particular mad half-Jotun noticeably missing from their custody, and the citizens of Earth weren't placated with empty assurances either. The longer it took to find Loki, the more disturbingly reticent and cryptic Director Fury got as to the future of the Avengers Initiative.

All this weighed on Tony and his teammates as they searched through the Appalachians, combing each cave, crevice and unturned rock.

Finally, a glimmer of blue appeared on the radar. It wasn't a hideout, it wasn't even a trail, but it was a sign that they were _finally_ getting on the right track. Ignoring the buzzing sounds of both Captain Spanglepants and Director Fury, Tony landed and reached down, pulling a small daisy out of the ground as gently as his hydraulic servos allowed. Through the visual image display, Tony saw the faintest hint of blue energy dancing along the brilliant white petals. It wasn't much, but it was enough.

* * *

Later that evening, Tony had subjected the daisy to various testing, with only one positive result - the energy signature the daisy had was a positive match against the signatures previously recorded. Tony forwarded all of the findings to Dr. Banner, who had been called to Hong Kong along with Natasha on an urgent mission. Leaning back in his char, he began re-calibrating the satellites SHIELD had in use, honing down the energy field parameters. It was possible, though unlikely, that the energy could have been produced in other areas around the globe. They'd discussed, in one of the many, _many_ meetings held with Director Fury over the past weeks, that this could possibly be a worldwide terror cell of energy wielders, allowing that Loki had skip-jumped to any number of locations. Since there wasn't any evidence to the contrary, this was a credible concern and Director Fury had allowed Tony any and all access necessary to track any more energy signals similar to the earlier samples. Some small pockets of energy had been noted, through Asia, Australia, and Europe. These pockets had been checked and verified by Thor and at least one other Avenger; nothing of Loki was ever located, and the energy signal died within hours of being located.

That's why the daisy was different. Hours after being plucked, the daisy, now sitting in the middle of Stark's lab in a small cup of water and under a small UV light, still had a sheen of blue energy when he looked through the scanner. The glare of the sheen stayed with him long after he passed out in his lab, many hours later.

* * *

At the Hollow, the afternoon sun illuminated the kitchen, giving the room a warm golden glow. Cass had taken the time to fry up some chicken and managed to finagle a few sides from Trudy's cafe - along with Trudy herself as the delivery driver. It had been some time since their last "girls" dinner and Cass had finally convinced Rift that Trudy wouldn't mind Loki's presence. Trudy helped Cass prepare the main course as Loki and Rift pulled together the backyard, clearing way for a picnic table, comfortable chairs, and drinks Rift summoned from a convenient interdimensional pocket. Small lanterns were lit and Loki hung them from nearby trees as Rift stood, focusing her energy before letting loose a small concussion wave, singing every single mosquito for a half-mile radius. When Loki felt the concussion of magic sweep by him, he leaned down from the branch he was on and eyed Rift, mischief dancing in his eyes. She smiled at him before turning back to the table to conjure the flatware for the evening. Loki's eyes narrowed and he whispered a spell before reaching up to secure the lantern. A small iridescent green bee flew lazily towards Rift. It flew around her head as she set the table, buzzing past her ear but adroitly escaping every attempt she made to swat the irritant. When her attempts to swat the insect proved fruitless, it flew away for a moment, only to divebomb her from above, landing quickly on her head and pulling gently at her hair before dislodging and flying away. The third time, when Rift was prepared for another divebomb to her head, the bee changed course just before landing, heading straight down her moderately low-cut black shirt between her breasts. She felt the bee bumble about under her shirt for a bit, never stinging her, just wandering about. The bee created a tickling sensation whenever it touched her skin, driving her to distraction. Rift turned and glared towards Loki, who was now perched up on a the high branch he'd secured the lantern on. The innocent look on his face was ruined by the small smirk hiding at the corner of his mouth. Pointedly turning away from him, Rift lifted her shirt, allowing the conjuration freedom. Instead it continued exploring its path, trailing over her skin and crossing several near-invisible thin scars. She reached down and grabbed the bee, pulling her shirt back down to turn triumphantly at Loki, only to find him absent from the branch he had been perched on moments before.

Turning around, she couldn't immediately spot him, so she closed her eyes and reached out with her senses. She smiled, deliberately stepping away from where he was located before disappearing herself, only to pop up right behind him. With a flick, she pulled the invisibility spell off of Loki while making herself visible as well. When he turned around, she raised an eyebrow, smirking at him before depositing the captured insect into his hands.

"I believe this belongs to you, dear sir."

Loki cradled the bee in his palm before allowing it to disappear, gentle motes of green energy drifting away in the slight breeze before completely darkening. "Indeed." He glanced at his shoulder, picking an invisible speck of dirt off and feigning interest in it as he nonchalantly asked, "Where did the scars come from?"

Rift's eyes darkened and she frowned, turning her head away from his. She knew the bee had been controlled by Loki; she was not aware he could see what it had seen. She'd not been able to discern the complexity of the illusion, which frustrated her, but that he'd seen the scars she kept carefully hidden unsettled her. Without conscious thought she tried to disappear, attempting to shift into the ethereal plane. Loki's eyes glowed green as he saw her attempt and stalled her, reaching his hand out, taking her by the chin and forcing her to look directly into his face.

"What happened, little magelet?" he asked, his eyes hypnotic as he focused on her eyes, as though his gaze alone could pull the information out of her.

Rift shrunk into herself, unable to pull away from Loki's hand. Her arms came up and she hugged herself, holding herself together as she stared back at him. She felt her face shift into a defiant mask, her chin jutting into Loki's hands and she challenged Loki's gaze with her own. When he only raised an eyebrow at her show of aggressiveness, she sighed and pulled away from him, sinking down into one of the patio chairs.

The quiet chirruping of cicadas permeated the air for several minutes before Rift spoke. Her voice was brittle as she told her story:

_"Years ago... I've lost count since then, but I was young... years ago I lived with my mother. My father had died early on and it was just us. Mom never really got over his death, and I think I reminded her of him, so we weren't really close. I actually don't remember her too well, but I remember feeling like she didn't like me. It's not like she was abusive or cruel, she just never wanted to be near me. I can't really blame her. She was a natural hedgewitch in her area, I think, brewing potions and making poultices for the local folks who needed remedies. Little cantrips and such. Nothing major, you know, just a little boost to some healing herbs or something. She took in laundry and mending, too; really did anything she could so we could get by. But she knew I was trouble - she kept me away from the neighbors when she could, instead encouraging me to go play by myself. I found that I could make friends with the trees and the dirt and the wind, so it wasn't too bad._

_One day a couple of strangers came to our house. They weren't local, or I would've recognized them - we knew everyone in the area. Not unusual, getting strangers, as sometimes people came for miles for a remedy from my mom's storeroom, but they were dressed differently. They _felt _different - I could feel the power coming from them, no matter how tightly controlled they kept it. I'd always felt my mother's power; it was like gentle waves, quietly radiating from her. These folks were different - it was like standing next to a thunderstorm. Their clothes were finer than the stuff we had too - robes with golden sigils etched in. Mother asked me to go outside while she spoke with them, so I went and played in a nearby field. I was dancing in the wind on top of the trees when one of the newcomers came to speak with me. When I came down, he asked how I learned to do that. When I told him I learned the dance from some of the pixies, he didn't believe me and got angry. He told me I was lying._

_The woman he came with stopped him from hitting me. She sat down next to me and drew some sigils into the ground with a stick, asking if I knew what they meant. I hadn't ever seen them before, and I was too young to learn to read or write, so I shouldn't have known them, but I felt them. They hummed, singing to me in the middle of this desolate, dusty field. I told her what they were, controls for fire, wind, earth. She just stood up and walked away, back to the house where my mother was, with the man following behind her. I was alone again, with the dirt and the trees._

_When they came out again, they were holding a couple bags filled with clothes and such. I saw, peeking out, some of the trinkets I had collected from around our home. The woman came to me and told me mother had asked if I could go with them, to train. I didn't believe them, but they were holding all my things in their hands. The woman tried to look sad, I think, but it didn't look real. She didn't *feel* sad. I saw my mother at the window, with tears on her face, and I tried to run into my house, but the man dropped my things and tried to force me into the carriage..._

_I was told the resulting explosion levelled the carriage, the field... and my house. When I woke, we were in a large building. The woman who had visited my home was there, though she looked ages older, and the right side of her face was burned. I found out later that her friend had not survived, nor had my mother. Everything was just gone._

_The next years were... unpleasant. The Guild wanted to control my energy, but it wouldn't stay controlled. The usual methods weren't working. My teachers were too scared to upset me, lest I explode, and my energy kept building and building and building. I'd learn about the ethereal plan only to jump straight there, instead of learning teleportation spells. The teachers gave up on teaching me anything, telling the Guild that I was either "intentionally making them look inferior" when I exceeded their tutelage, or "defiant and willfully ignorant" when I couldn't get the simple spells to work right. Sometimes the simple spells didn't just not work; sometimes they were explosive. No one wanted to teach me after the last tutor lost his arm... and some of his insides... So I tried to spy on other initiate's lessons, but when they found me they'd ward the building against me - it wasn't good for the other students to be near me. There were some politician's children, some important people who the Guild couldn't afford to sacrifice if I... you know. So I was kept there, too dangerous to be let loose, too uncontrollable to teach._

_Then one of the older guild members unearthed a book about borrowing energies from another source. The tome held key elements of dark magic, and taught blood rites, sacrifice and death rituals. They started experimenting with me._

_At first it was just sitting in a circle while some of the mages pulled off some of my energy - it gave me headaches, but it boosted their energies. The effects never lasted long - my energy rebounded quickly, and it didn't last but a week or so for the mages. So they kept at it, every week leading me down for a transfer session. And every time, the Guild grew stronger, more powerful. It hurt, but it didn't matter._

_It wasn't until I was ten that they started actually cutting me._

_The power stayed longer when they consumed my blood, they said. It was better that they had my energy, they told me, because they could *control* it. It was... hell, I think. I don't remember a lot of it - they started drugging my food so I wouldn't complain so much, so I would be easier to handle. I couldn't burn off enough of the drugs to make my brain catch up to what they were doing until it was almost too late. The blood turned their magic dark, and the Guild fell off the edge in their claim for power._

_The Guild was slowly making a name for themselves before they found me, you see, as a school for the magically inclined. They'd been in struggles with competing nations, other magic users, other Guilds - there was always some political struggles within the magical elite. With the power I afforded them... they'd near wiped out any opposition. Now they were building up for a final solution... they'd kept me off the drugs for a longer time than usual, to see if that helped me regenerate more energy. It did, but I realized what they were doing. It was the first time I really burned out, I think. It was a few days before I had enough energy to light a candle again after that, and I found that I was a few planes away, on Earth."_

"And the rest is history, I guess. Cass and I found each other by accident... there's a few Guilds on Earth. They're different names, but the same general purpose: _To expand our knowledge and understand the intricacies of the universe_, or some stupid babble like that. One of the Guilds had been sniffing around me for a bit, so I paid them a visit." Rift snorted, shifting her position. "They had just kidnapped her a few days ago when I found her, but it was enough for them to destroy her legs. She's such a null... I didn't know how I would be able to get her out. I did it. _We_ did it. And then I brought her here. And somehow it works. Somehow we're safe, even with me being this unstable mess."

Sometime during her spiel she'd pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them and curling into a ball. The late afternoon sun had set and dusk was slowly setting in. Her patio chair was still pulled up to the empty table, but Loki had pulled up a chair next to hers and had been listening to her intently, leaning towards her with his elbows resting on his knees. After a few moments of silence, he reached out and grabbed her, pulling her over the chairs and into his lap. He folded her into a large hug, holding her in a loose embrace.

Initially she was unsure how to react. Yes, she'd learned about affection, but this... this was her backyard, her patio chair, her life. This was dusk and the smell of Loki and his leather armguards and the feel of Loki's cool hands gently rubbing against her back, offering her comfort. Deciding not to question it, Rift leaned in, laying her head on his shoulder and allowing the moment to settle. One of his hands strayed to her face, gently caressing her cheek, and she was surprised when it came back wet with tears.

"Magelet." Loki quietly rumbled, his voice gruffer than usual. "What a sorry pair we make."

Rift couldn't help but chuckle, Loki's shirt absorbing most of the sound as she spoke into his chest. "What, you mean the fallen Mad God and the girl who levelled an entire plane of existence? Yup, we're a terrible pair. Whoever's in charge shouldn't let us near each other."

With that, Loki pulled his head back a bit, allowing himself to look into RIft's face. "I'm not sure of the moral of your story, my dear, but I'm fairly certain the takeaway was that no one can ever force you to do anything you do not wish to do."

Rift grinned at him, feeling the mood lighten significantly. "Damn skippy!" she crowed happily before leaning in and giving him a small kiss on the cheek. Loki's hands tightened around her for a moment when her lips touched his skin, and when she pulled back she looked at him questioningly. "Sorry, I didn't..."

Deciding actions were better than words, Loki leaned in and silenced her with a kiss. It was simple, a small touching of lips-on-lips, but the effect was immediate. Gone was the doubt in Rift's eyes, the heaviness of the moment on Loki's face. Instead, both pulled back and stared into each others eyes, trying to gauge where their relationship had shifted from tutor and student, to friends, to... whatever this was now.

The smell of freshly fried chicken broke the spell over both of them, and Rift quickly jumped out of Loki's lap before Cass wheeled out, a platter of chicken in her lap, followed by Trudy with bowls full of food. Loki stood gracefully, straightening his clothing before walking over to Trudy, lifting one of the platters from her overburdened hands and making a show of carrying it to the table as a fancy maitre d' would an elegant four-star meal. The distraction allowed Rift some time to settle herself, her face still flush from almost being caught by Cass and Trudy. She wasn't particularly worried about what either of the two thought about the shift or her having relations with Loki, but she didn't feel this needed to be examined just yet.

As the dinner was laid out on the picnic table, Loki bent down in a flourish. "Ladies, I will adjourn for the evening, and leave you to it."

"You don' have to run off, ya mad thing." Cass grumbled at him. "We made plenty o' food, and Trudy's a crack chef, y'know."

Loki favored her with a warm smile, but begged out. "I'll take some in and enjoy it in the kitchen, then. I'm not sure being the lone male in a dinner full of women will be a truly comfortable position."

The women allowed him to take a plate, filling it to the brim with food before letting him leave. Rift told him she'd signal him when dessert was being served, so he didn't miss anything, and he flashed her a quick smile and a warm glance at her lips before retreating into the relative safety of the house.

* * *

Loki set his plate down and dissected his chicken. He'd learned that Cass had a fair hand with cooking, and the food Trudy had brought from the diner was always a welcome repast. He needed time to assimilate what he'd learned about his pupil. The power she was able to generate and harness was enormous - if she had truly leveled an entire realm from burning out, and that had been ten years ago, her energy would have only grown in magnitude. Not knowing what race she was did nothing to help his calculations, but for some races, Asgardians, Vanaheim, and several notable others, magical energy continued to grow and thrive, only plateauing in the later years of life.

Conjuring a small book to read in case one of the ladies came upon him sitting in the kitchen alone allowed Loki to continue to ponder as he picked through his dinner. Hearing how Rift had been used, denied love and affection, and tortured from such a young age... it pulled at him, mirroring some of the hurts of his own adolescence. It was no wonder they got on so well together - he felt her terror and self-hatred matched his own quite well. She was directionless, true, but maybe she could be molded to...

He shook himself. The Other was still coming for him, and Thanos... there wasn't forgiveness for what Loki had done, no matter the cost. Anger, hatred and fear coursed through his veins as he thought of what lay in store for him if they caught him unaware before he shook himself out of that downward spiral. The plan he was building would work. It was his redemption, his salvation, his magnum opus... but he would need Rift's help.

It had to work.

* * *

_**Author's Note:**_** See? Missed y'all bunches.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Know what's mine? This story, the OC, and my own insanity. What's not mine, you ask? Marvel, MCU, and a general grasp of logic.**

* * *

Dinner passed uneventfully. Trudy loved visiting the Hollow and checking in; likewise, both Cass and Rift loved to see her. Her no-nonsense attitude had helped settle many disputes in the living arrangements between the two. To Cass and Rift, she was a foster aunt, someone who checked in on them from time-to-time, who brought them food, who offered advice, who brought a little stability into their rather unconventional lives. The apparent age difference between the three women had no bearing on their friendship, though Trudy was easily in her 60's with tightly curled grey hair, olive skin lined with wrinkles, and a deep voice that spoke to years of smoking.

To Trudy, the two women were a godsend. When the women turned up in her diner one day, bedraggled and road-weary, Trudy welcomed them with the same warm hospitality she offered any stranger in their area. The highway cutting through the mountains had a small exit just for her diner, and even though it wasn't a big tourist hotspot they'd managed to eke by on truckers, the occasional families on a road trip, and the few steady locals who lived nearby. Trudy had pegged the girls as returning from a long roadtrip (dark circles under their eyes, weary, travel-worn faces with the slight look of road-shock everyone who drove too much wore), took their order, and moved on about her evening. When the girls returned for breakfast the next day, Trudy didn't pay much attention, as there were some cabins some miles down; the girls had obviously booked one of them for the night and would probably head out in a few days.

Instead, the girls became regulars. They were friendly, polite, and open, often taking time to chat with Trudy when time allowed, and always complimented the food. As she did, Trudy began noticing the habits of her customers - that the pale, copper-haired girl drank her weight in coffee, where the olive-skinned, rainbow-haired wheelchair-bound girl preferred iced tea or juice depending on the time of day. Both hated tomatoes, but loved salads. When they were seated, they were always animated, talking quietly but always using their hands to gesture emphatically. Occasionally, the copper-haired girl (who called herself Rift, and must've been a runaway, poor thing, no one else would hide their name like that) would walk outside mid-meal and disappear into the woods for a few minutes before returning, calmer than she'd been before she left. Trudy thought she must have been smoker or addict, but the girl never had trackmarks or smelled of smoke. They'd always arrive separately, Cass driving her adaptive car and Rift arriving... somehow, Trudy never caught her vehicle. Strange, but not concerning. The girls became fixtures in the small, homey diner, visiting at least once a week to grab some grub and check in with Trudy.

A few months later the veil was lifted. It was a regular evening, the normal motley assortment of customers in for dinner, stragglers here and there. Everyone had left before Cass and Rift had come in late that evening, smiling at Trudy as they found a table near a window and asked for some coffee and iced tea. Since Trevor had just gone home for the evening, it was just Trudy and the girls, and she chatted with them for a bit before going to get their drinks. As Trudy turned toward the kitchen, the raucous sound of motorcycles coming down the road and into the parking lot shook the building. The silence that followed the engines being cut off was almost as deafening as the roar of the engines had just been. Trudy exited the kitchen, only to be greeted by five leather-clad men looking for a table. Skinheads, by the look of them, their faces lined with anger and scratcher tattoos. Without any prompting, the men took over a table in the center of the diner and began catcalling for drinks.

Trudy held herself steady as she delivered the girls' their drinks before turning to the newcomers. "Gentlemen, I will be with you in just one moment." She turned her back on them, focusing her attention on Rift and Cass. Behind her, she the men silenced as a lone chair scraped against the old tile floor.

"I don't think you're understandin'," a deep voice spoke behind her. "Me an' my boys been ridin' all day, an' we asked for drinks. Now hurry your big old ass into the kitchen and get us some drinks. Pronto."

Before Trudy had time to turn around, Rift rose from the table. The girls exchanged a quick glance and Cass nodded steadily, slowly wheeling her chair backwards towards the far exit. Fear laced through Trudy's veins as she took in the situation; the girls had enough to deal with running from whatever trouble followed them, and now they'd surely be the next targets for this gang of morons. Trudy spun on her heels, ready to placate the men at the table with drinks before she called down to the local Sheriff's office, when Rift put a hand on her shoulder. The lighting must've been going out in the diner again, or maybe some sort of electrical spike was happening, because Trudy swore the girl was almost glowing blue. When Rift's hand touched Trudy's shoulder it felt as though a warm blanket enveloped her entire body, from her toes to her head. Without releasing Trudy's shoulder, Rift addressed the self-appointed leader of the gang.

"You do not want this fight, gentlemen. I suggest you keep moving." That didn't sound like the amicable, energetic girl who regularly visted Trudy's diner. Her voice was melodic and haunted, and even though Trudy was still covered in the warmth from the electric blue light pouring from Rift, shivers tumbled down her spine.

The man standing began laughing, along with the other assembled twits behind him. Their faces turned red as tears began forming in their eyes from laughing before they all stopped at once, menacing leers on their faces. The leader continued to stand, shifting his attention to the girl.

"Girlie, if you're lookin' for a good time, you're gonna need to wait. Food first, then fucking." His eyes shifted behind the two women to Cass, who'd managed to wheel her chair to the back exit. "We'll take the lame one, too. She don't need to walk for what we need." He grinned then, malicious, his yellow teeth showing through his greasy grey beard. The other men chuckled in agreement, one standing to move over to Cass.

The skinhead only laid one foot towards Cass before he stopped, his other foot hanging in the air. Rift's hand extended to the frozen man, the blue light now dancing like electricity from her fingers. "I think not." With a quick gesture, she flicked her wrist and the frozen man sat back down in his seat, straight backed, hands in his lap, staring blankly straight ahead.

"Jimmy? Jimmy!" The man to the right of Jimmy smacked him on the back of the head, but got no response. "Bones, man, that bird done somethin' weird to Jimmy-boy." The other three stood up now, moving behind the leader as Jimmy's buddy tried to break him from his trance. The leader, Bones, stepped towards Rift. She pushed Trudy back into the chair she'd just recently vacated before stepping up to Bones, and Trudy swore the girl's hair was blowing in a wind no one else in the diner felt.

Bones' face was red as he glared down at Rift, one hand reaching behind his back. Quickly he pulled out a giant Bowie knife, using his other hand to reach out to grab Rift by the neck. His hand met thin air as Rift disappeared. A dark laugh filled the diner and the lights began to flicker, dimming and sparking. The back door squeaked as Cass made her way out into the parking lot, and the door shut with a quiet finality.

"I warned you." The dark, haunting voice filled the diner. "Time to go." Rift appeared right next to Bones, grabbing his arm. His face contorted into a rictus scream, all the more terrifying for its silence, before he and Rift simply disappeared. Moments later, Rift returned, standing before Trudy and the four men. The lights settled, only two bulbs having popped, and Rift addressed the gang. "Your leader has been... politely... dumped into the pits of hell. Would you like to join him?" Rift gave them an eerily serene smile, her haunting voice filling the diner.

One of the standing men moved towards her menacingly. The other man standing glanced at his buddy Jimmy, swiveling his gaze to the spot where Bones had just stood, and slowly backed to the door with his hands in the air, muttering "fuck this shit, I'm out". The roar of an engine flooded the small diner for a moment before it faded into the distance. As the sound died out, the man walking to Rift began to glow blue as his face contorted with the same silent screams, his body writhing in pain. Rift's eyes, generally a light amber, sparked with deep blue fire as she made a few quick gestures. With a final wave, Rift, the attacker, and the two men still seated at the table disappeared. The lights dimmed for a moment, and Trudy could hear a popping at the bar before her cash register began smoking. She continued to sit in the diner chair for a few minutes before the back door opened slowly, Cass slowly wheeling herself back into the diner. She pulled up to the table Trudy was sitting at, still blankly looking at the area the gang had just recently been forced to vacate.

"Do I wanna know how bad t'was?" Cass asked, her head tilting slightly to the slight mess left behind.

"I... uhm..." Trudy couldn't find the words.

"Right. Well, let's see what's broken then. Sommat like that's bound to have fried a few things around here." With that, Cass began wheeling herself around the diner, deftly avoiding tables and chairs, to the bar. Pulling herself closer, she inspected the smoking cash register. "'Fraid this one here's toast, Trudy. Got any others?" Trudy shook her head, and Cass sighed. "All right. We'll getcha sorted." She pulled herself around into the kitchen, the swinging doors opening quietly for her. "Looks all right in here, girlie!" Cass shouted. "Just a few lights popped. Mind the glass. Might could get the madam to clean it when she gets back." Cass wheeled herself back in, settling herself at the table and grabbing her now watered-down iced tea. "Waste not, want not, an' all that." Smirking at Trudy's astonished face, Cass pulled a long drink from her cup before speaking again.

"Never been around many magic users, then?"

Trudy shook her head.

"Ach, you'll be fine. She likes you; she would'na stepped in otherwise."

Trudy cleared her throat. "Has she always...?"

Cass laughed. "What, been the overpowered wench you just saw fry near a whole gang of idjits?" Trudy nodded again, and Cass sat back in her chair, holding her drink. "Yeah, always. Has'na been an easy burden, y'ken, power like that." She took another sip and sat forward, her eyes intent on Trudy's as she spoke again. "Whatever you do, don' be scared o' her. She can feel it. Jus' try an' stay as normal as you can. If'n you don' want us here again, tell me now. It's not like we can't manage ourselves."

The events of the past few minutes (really, it had only been a few minutes, though it felt so much longer) played through Trudy's head. She saw how Rift had protected her, pushed her out of danger, made herself the focus of the gang's ire. She thought back to when she'd first met the girls: skinny, poor waifs with dark circles under their eyes and a haunted look on their faces. With that, Trudy pulled herself straight and shook her head.

"No. You girls are still regulars here, as far as I'm concerned. That girl saved my life tonight; don't think I don't know it. You girls stay."

"Thank you." The words had come from behind Trudy. When she turned, Rift was standing behind her. She looked down at Trudy with guilt written all over her face, contrition clear in her voice. "I'm sorry I wrecked the diner."

Trudy snorted as she stood, pulling the chair out so Rift could collapse in it gratefully. "Nonsense. A few light bulbs and a new register, and this place'll be right as rain. Could've happened from that thunderstorm earlier, you know?" She asked, pulling her towel from her waist and wiping down the girls' table. "Still got some spaghetti pie left, and Trevor made sliders earlier that'll make your mouth water."

Rift smiled up at Trudy. "Spaghetti pie sounds awesome. Cass?"

"Silders."

Trudy nodded. "I'll get everything up. You two," she pointed at the girls, "get this dining room cleaned up before I bring your food out."

Cass and Rift nodded. Trudy went back to the kitchen, grabbing the broom and dustpan for the shattered glass littering the floor under the popped bulbs. Rift and Cass moved away from their table and began straightening the dining room obediently.

The next day, just after the morning rush, a delivery arrived at the diner. A large box, addressed to Trudy, was deposited on the bar. When she opened it, a brand-new cash register was inside. There wasn't a note, but two buttons had been directly programmed into the register: Litre of Coffee (the price was $1, which made Trudy snort) and Litre of Tea (also $1).

A week after the incident, Cass and two unfamiliar gentlemen came in. Under Cass' direction, the two men set up cameras in the dining area, kitchen, office and parking lot. The surveillance equipment was discreet, all leading to monitors which were installed in the office. Trudy just shook her head, trying to offer Cass money for the new security system. She only shook her head, saying she wanted the best cook in the area to be safe. The two gentlement left with a fresh cherry pie to split between them, and Cass left with a bag full of just-purchased pomegranates.

They'd been family ever since.

* * *

The back door slid open some time later and Rift drifted in quietly, hoping not to disturb Loki as he was reading. Dinner had been delicious as always and it was time for dessert: bread pudding and ice cream. Rift floated into the kitchen, reaching for the pan of rum-soaked-deliciousness before Loki put his book down.

"Is it worth it?"

"Como say what now?" Rift asked, lifting the foil on the night's dessert.

"Having... friends. It seems tedious."

"I suppose it could be, if you picked the wrong friends." Reaching up to the cabinets, Rift pulled down some bowls. "Grab the ice cream for me, please?" She nodded to the freezer. Loki stood, depositing his plate in the sink along the way. He pulled the freezer door open and reached in, grabbing the container of vanilla ice cream, before turning and gracefully depositing it by Rift as he stood behind her. She turned and smiled at him quickly before scooping out portions for everyone.

"Why?"

She shook her head at the question. "Why what? You're gonna need to narrow it down a bit."

"Why depend on someone like that? Why leave yourself vulnerable?" Loki tried controlling his voice, but Rift heard just a hint of anxiety, concern..

"Why close yourself off?" She countered, putting the scoop down and turning to face him. She reached out and let her hand skim his face, lightly tracing her fingers on his cheek before trailing them down his chin before letting her hand rest on his chest, above his heart. Her eyes closed and Loki could feel her hand warm through the dark, long-sleeved button up shirt he'd found in his closet. The warmth spread into his body, trickling slowly into his limbs. She opened her eyes slowly. She kept her hand on his chest and leaned in, wrapping her other hand behind his back, gently holding him. Without thought Loki raised his arms and held her to him, burying his nose in her hair for just a moment, inhaling the fragrance that wafted around her.. lavender, mint, and just a hint of the fried chicken from dinner. It made him smile and he tucked her head into his shoulder as they held on to one another.

"This vulnerability..."

He felt her smile, heard the lightness in her voice. "Can make you stronger." She pulled away, her amber eyes searching his face. "Think about it, on the battlefield, would you rather fight a hired mercenary, or a man defending his home and family?"

"A mercenary." Loki answered quickly.

She looked at him then, silent, waiting for the connection. Loki shook his head, sighing. "Are you saying that having friends makes you stronger? That keeping those two in your life has made you a better person for it?"

She nodded.

He leaned back against the cabinets, pulling her against him, and pondered it thoughtfully. "I see."

"Well, I damned well hope ya' do, ya daft bastard. You're in-between me 'n the bread pudding. Dangerous territory." Cass warned as she wheeled herself in. She glared at the two, both looking a bit guilty as she grabbed two of the dessert bowls. The drawer just to Loki's right was yanked open and Cass grabbed two spoons, muttering under her breath about _stupid hormonal blind morons_ before wheeling dessert out to Trudy.

Laughing, Loki pulled Rift into a tighter hug before releasing her. "Madame, have I kept you from dessert as well?" he asked, eyebrow quirking.

"Psh, yeah!" Rift reached, grabbing her bowl before digging out a few spoons for her and Loki as he put the ice cream back. She'd made it halfway to the back door before turning to Loki, her eyes alight. "Coming?" she asked, licking ice cream from her lips slowly before smiling devilishly and sauntering into the back yard.

Loki growled, grabbing his dessert and absolutely-not-running after her.

* * *

Darkness had spread across the backyard, held at bay by the small, warm lights from the lanterns hung earlier. The four had commiserated over dessert, listening to Trudy's travails of diner life. Cass threw in some old bar stories, and though Loki had nothing to add, he enjoyed the camaraderie.

Overhead, the sound of a rocket flying by pierced the easy, laid back atmosphere like a bullet. Rift stopped laughing at Trudy's story abruptly, turning to Cass questioningly. Closing her eyes, Cass listened to the sound, replaying it in her head a few times to be sure. "Thrusters... I know the sound..." She replayed it a few times in her head before her eyes flew open. "Shite."

"Good lord, what have you two gotten yourselves into now?" Trudy asked, concern etching deeper lines into her face, the darkness making the contrast stark.

Rift shook her head. "They found us?"

Cass nodded, a sick look crossing her face.

"Well, 'shit' is right then." Rift stood, and turned to Trudy. "I'm sorry, Trudy, but it seems we need to cut the evening short. Can I ask a favor?"

"Of course, anything."

"Can you give Cass a ride? I'll have Loki come get her from the diner in..." Rift closed her eyes, swiftly calculating, "maybe an hour?"

Trudy looked to Cass, who had pulled out her tablet from behind her chair and was swiping furiously, grumbling about shutting down the lab.

"Sure, not a problem. Trevor's been having some trouble with his new phone anyways, and has been trying to figure out how to ask her about it."

"Trevor's an idiot." Cass said without looking up. "The last time he needed help he'd set the damn language to Russian on his new tablet the day he bought it." With a few more swipes, Cass nodded and looked up. "Ok, everything's locked down tight. Should be all right to move." She pulled away from the table and wheeled over to Trudy. "Shall we?"

Trudy gave her a tight smile before walking behind Cass and pushing her to the house. When they reached the back door, she turned to look at Rift. "One hour?"

Rift shrugged, smiling. "Hour-ish?" she replied, smiling uncertainly. She raised her hand in goodbye as Trudy and Cass left. Loki stood next to Rift, his dessert bowl forgotten in his hand, as he tried to decipher the last few minutes. "Magelet?"

She ignored him, waving her hands, blue energy jumping from her as the backyard began to clear itself. Furniture, lanterns, and food disappeared quickly. With another graceful arc of her arm, the wards, usually invisible, began to glow blue, giving the area a cool, dispassionate bath of cool blue light. A few minutes later light flared in front of the house, signifying the exit of Trudy's car, hopefully with Cass in tow.

"Rift."

She stopped, cocking her head at him.

"Explain."

She sighed, looking down at the ground. "That rocket? It was Iron Man. We knew he was getting close; Cass' been tracking him for some time. He found the clearing we escaped through when I first broke you out, which isn't as far as it should have been. I think they've found us. I need to move the Hollow, but I couldn't do it with Cass here."

Loki chocked for a second before responding. "I'm sorry, did you say you're going to move the Hollow?"

"Yup."

"As in forceably remove it from the ground and transplant it elsewhere?"

"Uh, yeah."

"... have you done this before?"

Rift smirked at him, her pale skin deathly sallow in the sickening light blue light. "Couple of times."

"Oh, well then." Loki bowed to her slightly before stepping closer to the house, leaning nonchalantly against the wooden exterior. "Do carry on."

* * *

A wash of blue light flooded Tony's radar, outright blinding him. "Shit. Jarvis?"

_Autopilot has been engaged._

"Thanks buddy. Did you catch that, Capalicious?"

"Roger that, one giant explosion of blue light."

"Energy, Rogers, energy. Whatever, it means we've found them. Sorry, I mean **I**. **I** found them."

Natasha's undignified snort was captured by the comms before she responded. "Landing the Quinjet now." Moments later, the Quinjet managed a vertical landing in a field barely larger than the plane itself.

They stepped out, meeting Tony at the bottom of the ramp. The clearing was small, dominated by the jet, with scrub and trees surrounding the glade. As it was November, there was a distinct chill in the air, which came with the season as well as the height of the mountains. The surrounding trees were still verdant, lush with green leaves and refusing to change despite the chill. Aside from the greenery there wasn't anything remarkable about the area, nothing aside from a small trail that cut through the densely-forested area. It looked to have been recently used; tire marks were still visible and the slight smell of exhaust hung faintly in the air. Steve turned to Tony, his eyebrow raised.

"All right, Stark, where to?"

"Down this path." Tony gestured to the path just to the right of the jet. "Not more than a quarter mile and we'll hit the spot where the energy is generating. I'll head up and see if I can't find another way in." With that Tony's mask clicked back into place and he flew off, heading to what looked like another copse of trees. Steve watched him for a second before marshaling himself, Natasha and Clint into line.

"Remember, we're not here for a slash-and-burn; just reconnaissance. If we see our target, we'll engage as necessary. Agreed?"

Clint nodded; Natasha smirked and inclined her head towards Steve before she gestured for him to lead the way. The three Avengers walked into the forest.

* * *

_**Author's Note**_**: Sorry for the abrupt cut-off. If I kept going, this chapter would be way too lengthy for comfort (because the longer a chapter is, the higher the chances are that my computer will eat it). **

**Also big huge thanks to the folks who are following/favoriting/reviewing. You guys are just fantabulous.**

**And one quick note: I'm editing this myself, so accuracy might be kinda dicey for a bit. Bear with me, and if you spot a glaring error (grammar or plot) message me and I'll get it rectified pronto. With everything going on IRL, trying to hunt down someone to read my ramblings has hit the backburner. **


	15. Chapter 15

**So, redundant redundancies commence: I own nothing. Nada. Zip, zilch, zero. Not a whit.**

**Except the story, and the OC, and whatnot. They're mine, I licked 'em, and no taksies-backsies.**

* * *

They walked through the trail in a line, with Cap in front, shield at the ready. Natasha followed behind him, sidearm pulled, eyes constantly scanning the trees. Clint took up the rear, bow in hand, arrow nocked but drawstring loose. He took to searching the treeline as well, but every so often would check behind them, ensuring no one snuck up on the three of them as they traveled into unfamiliar territory. Overhead Tony was reconning the area - he passed by the trail every so often, swooping down low over their heads and generally irritating the shit out of them.

"Guys, there's a disturbance ahead, three-tenths of a mile ahead. I can't see through it, but it's dead-center in the middle of the trail. I'll meet you there." "Roger that, Stark." Steve said, signalling to the other two to keep going. The forested area was quiet, but not unnaturally so. The chirrup of frogs came from somewhere south, and occasionally small game rustled past them on the trail, either heading out for a night snack or to their burrows for the evening. The trail was wide enough for one car to easily maneuver, though two would have a tough time passing each other unless they waited until the clearing. Overhead, the almost-full moon allowed for plenty of light to penetrate the canopy of leaves, nearly making the path as clear as day.

A few minutes later and the forest thinned, another clearing ahead. The trail continued, down a small hill and into another copse of trees. Tony had landed and was waiting for them at the end of the trail, his mask pulled up. He was holding a stick and swinging it around as the three came up on him; his face was grim and lined with frustration. Reaching his arm back, he swung out, releasing the stick. It flew a few feet in front of him and bounced off of thin air.

"Looks clear, but something's in there." Tony shook his head, the mask slamming back down. The lights powered on the slits in his mask for his eyes, giving the smooth metal mask an inhuman glow. "Damn. It's a shield, pretty damn powerful."

"How do we get around it?" Steve asked, allowing his own vibranium shield to rest by his side. Clint lowered his bow as well; Natasha kept her sidearm at the ready, continuing to scan the shadows around them, looking for trouble.

"We don't. We go through."

* * *

Setting herself down in the dirt near the house, Rift focused. She shut down all her other senses, allowing herself to sink inward before opening her magic to the land around her. She felt the forest, the trees alive and whispering with the breeze. She felt a number of small critters out and about, getting their normal nocturnal business on. She stretched her awareness to the wards, the boundaries of the Hollow, beginning to tie up the edges of her magic to ready the area for the transfer. It took a significant amount of time for the transfer, along with a not-healthy amount of magic, but she'd done it before without issue. Now, however, Rift felt some tugging at the wards near the trail. It wasn't an animal; they were able to traverse the warded areas freely, their energy linked to the land and therefore ignored by the powerful shields. Instead, she felt a small tapping, as if someone gently rapping, rapping on her chamber door.

Her eyes flew open as the wards flared. She turned her head to Loki, who was still leaning against the house, watching her with guarded interest. He raised an eyebrow in silent query when she turned. The blue energy swirling around her slowed, her eyes calming as she met his gaze steadily.

"Someone is here." she told him, her voice deeper than usual, magic in her voice.

Loki's posture changed immediately, though subtly. He tensed, and Rift noted his right fingers twitched for a brief second before a pair of daggers neatly appeared in his hands. His face dropped the guarded interest it held watching her prepare to relocate the Hollow. Now his features sharpened; he looked dark, dangerous. Studying his face, Rift noted that he looked almost predatory. His eyes held a small amount of dark glee - a mischievous glint that she caught in the narrowing of his eyes, the upturn of his smirk playing on his lips. Gracefully he detached himself from the house, quickly sheathing both daggers in his belt before reaching out to Rift, pulling her up from the dirt. He held her tightly against himself before pulling back, mischief dancing in his eyes.

"You have guests, then? It would be poor manners to leave them alone in the dark this fine evening." Malice dripped from his voice and Rift noted the shift in Loki's personality. This wasn't her tutor, nor her friend, nor the teasing, playful side that she saw so much these past few weeks. This was the planner, the fighter, the strategist; this was the trickster who'd followed Thor into Asgard's battles, who'd manipulated the royalty of Asgard into their own destruction, who had engineered the destruction of an entire planetary invasion at the cost of his freedom and sanity. His eyes challenged her, waiting to see her response to intruders on her domain.

She didn't disappoint.

With an grin that held similar vestiges of malice and mischief, Rift nodded at him. "Poor manners indeed."

Without another word, she wrapped an arm around him and allowed her magic to flare again, teleporting them both to the site where the wards were being triggered.

* * *

"We go through the impenetrable shield." Clint deadpanned at Stark.

"Well, yeah."

"Not that I don't doubt your powers of... you know what? Screw that. How are we going through the invisible, impenetrable shield, Stark?" Clint asked disdainfully.

"Easy." Stark replied through the comms. Raising his arms, Tony switched on the laser cutting torch in both wrists, moving forward until he hit the invisible barrier. "We cut our way in." The brilliant white light from the superheated lasers flooded the clearing with pale white light. As the lasers connected with the barrier a bright blue light flared and concussive energy threw Tony back forcibly. He hit a tree behind them with a metallic _thunk_ before falling to the ground. Steve rushed over to help his comrade to his feet, and Tony shook his head, the servos in his suit thrumming as he moved.

"Well, there goes the element of surprise." Natasha stated, her posture radiating her displeasure at the situation.

"Yeah, okay. Bad idea. Baaaad idea." Tony said ruefully as he moved back to the group, favoring his right leg. His mask lifted and they saw a small trickle of blood from Tony's mouth before glancing at each other, concern on their faces. "Note to self: invisible shields can harbor invisible battering rams. Duly noted."

"As it should be."

The four turned to the new voice, which sounded from behind the barrier. The area still looked clear, a trail heading down into a copse of green trees, but the voice sounded as though it was just behind the shield.

Steve stepped forward, his shield at the ready. "Show yourself."

"Really?" The female voice asked incredulously. "You're joking, right?"

"Not a joke, ma'am." Steve replied, his voice serious. "Come out where we can see you. We just want to talk."

Light laughter floated through the barrier. "You're the Avengers. You're armed to the teeth. And you just want to _talk_?" Another chortle followed the statement before the mood of the invisible speaker grew serious, darker. "I don't have time to play with you, dear soldier, nor your super-friends. Go home."

Tony shook his head, his hand-pulsar lit and at the ready. "We have reason to believe you're harboring a known planetary terrorist. Let us have our demi-god and we'll go back quietly."

"Not like you have much choice; you can't get past the barriers, and I have zero intention on letting you in." The voice was toying with them now, closer than before. Natasha judged the speaker's location and aimed her sidearm at the area; Clint followed Natasha's lead, putting the smallest amount of pressure on the drawstring.

"With all due respect, ma'am, we're not leaving without him." Steve said, using his good ol' boy charm to try and win over the unseen woman behind the barrier.

"Get used to disappointment." The voice replied.

The tension was thick in the air as everyone realized they were at a stalemate. Unless they could convince the woman on the other side to let them in, there was no way they could enter. However, she had to realize they knew where this location was, and would come back, bringing whatever was necessary to achieve their goal.

Steve lowered his shield and stepped closer to the barrier, a foot away from where Tony had been poking the thing with a stick.

"Help you, soldier?" The voice asked. She had to be only a foot or so away, from the sound, and Steve did his best to try and focus onto the location.

"Yes. We're looking for a known fugitive. He's... not from around here." Steve borrowed Fury's words. "There was an invasion some months back, and the guy we're looking for was in charge of the whole thing." Sorrow filled his eyes as he continued. "A lot of lives were lost, ma'am. If he's here, we need to take him in for his trial."

"Sounds like you've already made up your mind on the verdict there, Cap. But I'll throw you a bone: I don't know of any such fugitives here."

"Then why all the subterfuge?"

"Really?" Skepticism laced her voice.

"We just want to search the area and be sure that Loki is not here, ma'am. Then we'll be on our way."

"Sorry, Cap. Not that I don't feel for you, I do. But I'm not harboring insane megalomaniacal fugitives, nor would anyone here. Not our style. But then, it's a known fact that folks who live in remote mountainous areas with big, thick wards are just clamoring to get into power battles of good-and-evil, amirite? I mean, we've made it *so* accessible to get here."

"Statistically speaking, isolated geniuses who live in cabins in the woods haven't always had humanity's best intentions at heart, Madame Potter." Tony smirked at his own joke, then looked around for approval. "What, no one?"

"Too obvious, Mr. Stark." The voice replied.

"Well, I haven't had time to polish up on my magic-related pop culture aphorisms."

"What a pity. So, what now? Are y'all hungry? Shall I have a picnic sent out for you? Need any supplies before you go? Not that I mean to hurry you all along, you understand, but I do have other things to attend to, and none of them are babysitting a group of super troopers at the doorstep."

A laugh popped out of Clint's mouth before he could stop it. Natasha turned to glare at him before continuing to monitor the area for any unseen threat. He rolled his shoulder at her. "What? Super Troopers was funny."

To his left, Clint heard Natasha mumble "_Idiot"_ under her breath, but kept focus on the scene unfolding before him.

"No, no. I mean, we're good here, save the absence of one escaped god from another realm of existence." Tony bit out, his patience far past his breaking point.

"Excellent!" The invisible woman responded happily. A pale hand appeared out of thin air in front of Tony and Steve, twisting and flicking before blue energy erupted from her palm. Before anyone had a chance to react, the hand curled into horns (reminding Clint of a metal concert he was forced to hunt a mark down at) before disappearing behind the shields again. Everything appeared to be darker, and when Clint (and Natasha, and Steve, and Tony) lifted their hands to their eyes, each felt a new pair of sunglasses perched perfectly on their face.

"Sorry guys, I'd love to stay and chat, but got to run. Oh! Leave the sunglasses on; otherwise the light might give you some issues with permanent blindness. Thanks for the chat!" With that, the intermittent pulsing of the shield intensified, speeding up until it burst into a huge ball of white light. A concussive force of energy whipped past them as the shield flared before disappearing completely, with a much-too-quiet _pop_ resounding through the hilly, wooded area. The sunglasses were effective in blocking most of the blinding white light, but Clint still saw stars for a few moments before he regained his equilibrium. Ahead, Steve was getting back on his feet and slowly approached Tony, who was standing in roughly the same position Clint had seen him in before the blinding white explosion.

"Stark? You okay in there?" Steve asked cautiously, heading around to face Tony.

"Uh, about that." Tony's voice sounded tinny and far-away, and it took a moment for Clint to realize that if the comms must have blown out on everyone, Tony's suit may have, well, followed suit. "I seem to be having trouble moving. Or rebooting. Really not getting any response in general here."

"_говно_." Natasha swore before heading up to assist Steve and Tony. It took some maneuvering, but they finally managed to loosen the headpiece enough to get Tony's faceplate off, which calmed some of his growing claustrophobia, while Clint patrolled the area previously shielded to ensure their target had indeed vanished. Next Steve, with some small assistance from Clint, managed to pick up Tony and get him back to the Quinjet, which (thank all the freaking gods) was not as affected by the power blast, being a decent leg away from the incident. Nat took the helm, allowing Steve to try and assist Tony for a bit longer before being fed up by Tony's severely insufferable demeanor, which had only been growing in obstinate indignation since they'd met... whomever... was on the other side of the now-disappeared shield.

* * *

Loki watched Rift toy with the Avengers with an amused smirk on his face. It was quite amusing to see her toy with the Earth's "Mightiest Heroes", as the lot was being touted in the news. Seeing her wind up Stark and the Captain damn near made him bust out laughing once or twice, were the threat of Rift tearing him apart limb-from-limb not hanging over his head. Indeed, she'd given him strict orders to stay hidden and quiet if he were to remain where she'd teleported them both, to the edge of her wards. Once they'd arrived he could see the Avengers approaching, but she assured him they wouldn't be able to hear the two of them until she lifted that particular part of the warding. After that she turned, casting what felt like immensely powerful spells directed at the house, before returning her attention to the approaching team of _heroes_. If they only knew what it had taken...

He felt his thoughts wander back to the invasion, how masterfully he'd manipulated not only the Other, but Thanos, before he realized that Rift had engages the Avengers from her side of the wards, steadfastly refusing them any information or entrance. When she was done toying with them, he saw her begin to pull her power around her, the blue energy dancing along her skin, through her hair, jumping from her fingertips before she held her other hand up to the wards, shooting pulses of energy through. Loki _felt_ the power she was unleashing before she released her spell; it was a massive pull, a supernova of energy pouring through the girl. He broke his promise then, shouting at her to stop, but the spell had been released and Loki felt the disorienting _shift_ as the ground pulled out underneath them, seeping from this reality to another and back again. Loki tried to place the feeling as his stomach dropped out and realized the last time he'd felt like that was riding Slepnir down the steep cliffs of the mountains behind the castle in Asgard, the sheer drops terrifying and insurmountable to a normal horse. Slepnir's extra appendages allowed him further points-of-contact when descending the sheer cliffs, and between his legs and Loki's magic, each managed to survive the ride, but it was a near-thing each time they attempted it (which at last count was three-and-a-half times).

When the ground and surrounding areas settled, Loki shook his head and took in his surroundings. The Hollow appeared to be the same, though it was difficult to tell in the dark. The air still felt thin and a little chilly, so Loki assumed they were still in the mountains. When he turned back, he realized Rift had slumped down on the ground.

"Rift!" He called urgently as he strode over to her. "Darling, look at me." Fear laced through his body, but he tamped it down, not willing to show his weakness to her. He scooped her up in his arms; she felt weightless, as though the magic she'd so recently wielded had drained her body of all of it's density. Her head lolled in his arms before she sighed audibly, twisting her neck up so she could look at him. Her eyes were unfocused, the lids barely open as tried to focus on his face.

"Loki?" she asked, her voice hoarse, as though she'd been screaming nonstop for hours.

"Here, magelet." Loki said, clutching her to him as he turned on his heel and stalked back to the house. Her face was hollow and wan, the skin sunk deep into the hollows of her eyes and cheeks, giving her an emaciated look that made Loki sick to his core. He couldn't help her - even if he siphoned his energy to her, it wouldn't help her now. The amount of magic she'd used transporting the entire Hollow had pushed her body to its limits. The last excursion which had burned through so much magic (busting Loki from Stark's edifice of vainglory) had done the same, burning her body even as she commanded an enormous amount of energy, leaving her body a shadow of her former self. However, just as last time, Loki could feel her body quickly pulling itself back together. Loki swore he felt her body regain the fat and muscle tissue it had burned off as he approached the house.

They made it to the kitchen, Loki carrying her through the house, one arm under her legs, one arm supporting her neck and back. Somewhere on the trek she'd curled into him, closing her eyes and trying desperately not to look like she was enjoying the feel of Loki carrying her, of Loki's scent surrounding her. For his part, Loki was similarly trying not to look like he was enjoying carrying Rift in his arms, not taking an extra sniff of her hair as he gently placed her into a chair in the kitchen. He walked over to the cabinets, grabbing a mug and filling it with coffee and cream before returning to Rift and placing the mug in front of her at the table.

"Drink." His voice offered no flexibility, and to be truthful, Rift didn't feel like this was a horrible idea, so she wrapped her hands around the mug. The coffee was still hot, and the radiant heat warmed her hands. Giving Loki a small smile, she pulled the mug to her lips and took a swig. Loki looked on, noting that the shaking in her hands had decreased dramatically already, before turning around and scrounging up some food to give her. A few minutes later, a plate of leftover fried chicken, mashed potatoes, greens, and two rolls were deposited in front of Rift. By the time Loki had made a second plate, this one laden with all the leftover bread pudding and ice cream they had (and two spoons, just in case anyone felt like sharing), Rift had consumed all the food he'd just put in front of her. Loki merely placed the dessert plate down in front of her, seating himself next to her at the table. They ate in silence, Loki occasionally spoon-duelling with Rift over choice bits of deliciousness, before Rift slowed down. She blinked owlishly at Loki a couple times before her head lolled forward of its own accord, and Loki quickly reached out, gently laying her head on the table as he finished off the rest of dessert.

* * *

_**Author's Note**_**: Hey kids! See, semi-regular updates. Do you love me now?**

**Well, dang. Anywho, I have good news and bad news for you lot. Good news! I will have more time for writing, editing, and generally making a fool of myself here. Why, you ask? Well, that's the bad news. You see, sometimes good people lose their jobs through no fault of their own. **

**Oh, I'm not saying I'm one of those people, but I *did* lose my job, and even with the holidays, and the kids, I'm still gonna carve out some extra time on here because this will keep me from dwelling on my many, many, _many_ faults. Hopefully.**

**Well kids, if you're American I wish you a decent turkey day. If you're not, perhaps celebrate my newfound unemployment by leaving me a review? No? Oh, well. Off to the races. **

**Oh, and Natasha's Russian? Google translate tells me that's _shit_ in Russian. If I'm wrong, let me know the correct word and I'll update accordingly. Remember, not using a beta here, so any errors are my very own. (I love them and hug them and call them George.)**


	16. Chapter 16

Avengers = not mine. Story and OC = mine.

* * *

Rift slowly felt herself coming awake. Her body felt heavy, lethargic, and she swore her eyes were sealed shut permanently; not unusual after draining herself so thoroughly. Warmth surrounded her, and she allowed herself to drift a bit, her mind quietly wandering. She was safe, she was warm. The smell of frost, leather and forest alerted her to Loki's presence before she opened her eyes. Allowing herself one more minute of rest before prying her eyes open, she mapped out the room in her head, wondering where Loki had settled. She'd curled up into a ball as she'd slept, which could've put Loki on the other side of the bed, but she couldn't feel the bed move, so she doubted he invaded her sleep. She bet he'd managed to clear one of her chairs (as most were covered in either books, clothes, or some variation therein) and propped himself there. As she was about to open her eyes and see if she was right, she felt an insistent pull on her consciousness. She shot up in bed, her eyes wide, as she placed the source of the _pull_:

"Isthmus!" she cried out, her eyes widening in alarm. Without another thought, she willed her energy to her and teleported away.

* * *

She'd slept for over a day now. Cass had assured him that she'd waken in due time, and logically, he'd known the same. It was still disconcerting to see her stone-dead to the world for over twenty-four hours. He'd managed to fill the time: he'd contacted Trudy, and between himself and Cass they'd triangulated the new coordinates of the Hollow. He'd scrounged some food for himself, some of the leftovers from the dinner the evening before. When Trudy and Cass arrived, they brought along several bags of food, knowing Rift would need the calories when she woke. He stationed himself in Rift's room informally - Cass wasn't able to function well in there, her _null_ blood causing most of the latent magic in the room to go haywire or cease functioning - so Loki appointed himself Rift's impromptu keeper.

He'd started perusing the selection of books she had scattered about her room. There were several older tomes covering esoteric magical errata (complete with handwritten notes in the borders highlighting tweaks or broken spells), a scattered few "new magic empowerment" books (which, upon inspection, were heavily edited in Rift's handwriting, with commentary in the borders ranging from "must find out illicit drug combination author appears to be using for this to make sense" to "more orange zest required for optimal results" to "attempted; results vary from explosive death or making skin blue for two hours; both outcomes equally probable"), and even a few fiction novels (without any annotation, but several dog-eared pages). Grabbing the nearest book, titled _Devil in the White City_, Loki settled in to keep an eye on Rift, trying not to appear as though he was desperately waiting for her to wake.

When he felt her stirring, he'd set the book in his lap. It was an interesting tale of America's first known serial killer and the World's Fair in Chicago; he'd have to research the veracity of the story later. As she became more aware, Loki felt the air charge, the energy coalescing around her in intermittent bursts. Before long, her toes began to twitch under the thick comforter, followed by some slow stretching and incoherent moaning as the sounds of joints quietly popping made Loki flinch. He focused his energy, pulling a carafe of coffee from the kitchens, along with a mug and some cream. Trying to be as quiet as possible, he poured her a cup and doctored it as he'd seen her do countless times before stealthily depositing the mug on her nightstand and sending the carafe back to the kitchen.

He'd just re-settled himself on his perch in the chair when Rift suddenly sat up straight, her copper hair flopping unceremoniously in her face. She shook her head, resettling her hair as she clutched at the crystal at her neck. Her eyes wildly scanned the room, searching for something, before focusing on a fixed point beyond the wall. Loki's eyes widened as blue energy danced over her ashen skin; skin that was still pulled taut across her bones, giving her a terrifying, emaciated look that Loki had hoped would have filled out while she rested. Instead, she cried out "Isthmus!" and teleported out abruptly, leaving a rumpled bed in her wake.

The room was quiet again, eerily still and silent as a storm began to brew in Loki's mind. Rift was just rebounding from moving an entire heavily-warded, large expanse of land, along with a huge, multi-planar structure that housed not only magical items of varying strength but also residual null energy. She'd funneled enough energy that Asgard would have been powered for several months through her demi-mortal form, energy that would have left an entire coven in charred ruin. Instead of resting, allowing her body time to rebound and recuperate, she'd just hied off again, likely heeding the call of another hapless being under her protection. Didn't she realize the danger she put herself in, not to mention the dangers to others around her if she truly lost control? Her control was tenuous at best; a drain such as she was experiencing...

It was easily deadly.

All this filtered through Loki's head and he felt anger seep into his bones, deep and raucous, warming his veins and raging through his head._ What _did she think she would accomplish by driving her body to the ground?

Who could she save if she killed herself on the altar of nobility?

Loki growled, itching to be able to drag Rift back, but a quick check affirmed Loki's intuition, that she'd cloaked her destination. With no wish to destroy Rift's bedroom, he turned on his heel and stormed out, leaving behind a rapidly cooling mug of coffee sitting desolately on her nightstand.

* * *

It was dark again before Rift returned. She'd teleported back home, the use of her magic so soon after the last expenditure causing pain to lance through her body, burning her nerves. She couldn't help it though - after she'd helped her friend (the small matter of a tsunami having laid waste to his hometown, which she helped rescue and restore as much as she was able) the only remotely tangible thought in her head was _home_. So she teleported home, landing in her bedroom with a _thunk_ and a loud curse. Banishing the glamour she'd put forth for Isthmus (she knew she had to look like shit, not even having had time to shower before she left) caused another rubber-band snap of pain to lance through her head. Her legs wobbled and she nearly fell trying to walk to her bed; the back of her green chair saved her fall. Stumbling forward, she fell face-first into her bed before remembering to plunk a few books at the nearest mirror - the liquid-like rippling on the mirror's surface would echo to every mirror throughout the house, notifying Cass that she'd made it home safely.

She started burrowing into her bed, pulling the thick comforter so it cocooned her _just so_ when the glint of white on her nightstand gave her pause. Slowly, her body reminding her painfully of the recent overuse, she pulled herself up to look closer. There was a mug of coffee on her nightstand. The last thought passing through her head before exhaustion overtook her was to question how coffee had materialized in her room.

* * *

Breakfast had been... strange. Rift woke early and slowly trudged down the stairs. Having several hours of rest had helped recharge her batteries, so to speak - her body was already starting to fill out again and the dark circles under her eyes looked... well, less terrible than the night before, at least. She took the time to try and brush out her hair, splashing her face with water and brushing her teeth before hunting down Loki and Cass.

Slowly making her way into the kitchen, Rift saw Loki sitting at the long, picnic-style table in the "dining" area (really, just an open extension of the kitchen, but it was a good fit for their needs) where he was sipping a cup of coffee and reading. There were some pastries on the stove, courtesy of Trudy's. Rift grabbed a plate and began piling it high with several pastries before approaching the table. She mumbled "good morning" at Loki as she sat down, her chair loudly scraping against the hardwood floor. He barely acknowledged her, raising his eyebrows and nodding slightly before returning his focus to his book. Rift reached for the carafe in the middle of the table, pouring herself a generous amount of coffee with a splash of cream before all-but-shoving the mounds of buttery almond pastries into her face. Loki continued reading.

After inhaling her fourth almond croissant (she needed Cass to get this recipe from Trudy, stat) Rift paused and looked at Loki.

He continued to read.

Usually by now, Loki would have put his book down and began plotting out their day. Or discussing the mechanics of how the entire Hollow had been transported. Or asked her where she'd been for the last twenty-four hours.

Nothing.

The silence began to drag on, and Rift began picking at her fifth croissant, tearing it into small pieces as she analyzed her last few days. Had she said anything? Done something? Self-consciously Rift searched for a nearby reflective surface to see if she was indeed visible (per the reflection in the coffee carafe, she was, but stranger things had happened).

Finally she couldn't take it anymore. "So... whatcha reading?"

When he responded, Loki's voice was as flat as a board. "A book."

"Okaaaaay. Which book?"

He held the top flap out, so she could clearly read the title. "_Ars Notoria_... so, light reading this morning?"

"Indeed."

"I've got the original somewhere if you want me to..."

"No need, this is sufficient."

The quick rebuff combined with Loki's apathetic attitude towards her, began to grate. She felt her energy begin to form with the rise of her irritation, sparks beginning to dance before her eyes. Taking a few breaths before speaking again succeeded in calming her somewhat, but didn't allow her filter to return in time to stop the words that next erupted from her mouth.

"So, what's got your panties in a twist?"

_Thump_. The book closed audibly. Gently, Loki placed the book on the table before raising his eyes to her. His face was impassive, a mask of indifference, but Rift could see the roiling emotions swirling in his green eyes.

"My dear, whatever could be the matter?" he asked, his voice cold with insincerity. His eyes met hers, and they were distant, impassive. She'd grown used to reading Loki through his eyes - he'd often school his expressions into a polite mask, but his eyes would always betray him. That he'd pulled back so far from her hurt, giving her pause before she spoke again. She picked up the remnants of her pastry, tearing it into smaller and smaller pieces as she mulled over the events of the past few days. Could he have been upset after she confronted the Avengers? He hadn't seemed so, even going so far as to praise her ingenuity, snorting at how well she'd 'handled' Mr. Stark on her own (at least, she thought so; things got a little hazy after she'd resituated the Hollow's wards). So, if it wasn't that... was he mad because she's gone off to Alfheim to help Isthmus with the tsunami? She hadn't been gone _too_ long, and it's not as if they'd made plans for the day. As she continued to mull over the events of the past few days, Loki had returned to his reading. A minute later, he closed his book with a sharp _snap_, rising from the table and exited the room without a backwards glance.

Well, this was gonna be a great day.

* * *

Really, Rift needed to review her definition of a "great" day, she told herself. Before she'd invited Loki into her home (kidnapped him, same difference, right?) a quiet day like today would have been her version of heaven. No serious emergencies had popped up - no one needed saving or miracles, her energy felt fairly stable... Instead, Rift felt uneasy, taking to stalking all through the house before bursting outside, her home giving her that tingle of claustrophobia that usually took hold only in cramped, confined spaces. She prowled the outside of the Hollow, ensuring the recent transport hadn't affected anything in her domain too harshly. The pond felt a little wobbly, when she went to see it. Kneeling at the edge of the water, she placed her palm onto the water and closed her eyes, feeling the current of the water and the sluggish, fluid energy of the pond in wintertime. It appeared the transfer _had_ affected the season of the Hollow, finally. Rift hummed appreciatively as she felt winter's presence creep in, quiet, cold, and still. Attuning herself with the energy in the area, she began grounding her energy subconsciously as she threaded herself into the land again, quietly welcoming winter into her home.

Sometime later, she felt the very edges of her magic start to bubble in, a void in her energies which slowly began heading in her direction. Recognizing the feeling, she began pulling her energy back slowly, allowing it to reabsorb gently. Standing to stretch, she realized her grounding must have taken longer than she realized as her joints were stiff from kneeling on the cool ground for too long. She turned and smiled as Cass wheeled herself over, the noonday sun just peeking through the clouds and highlighting the British girl's rainbow-hued locks. Rift drifted towards her friend, the two of them coming to a stop just before the oak tree. They faced the water together for a bit, allowing the peace of the afternoon to wash over them, before Cass broke the silence.

"Couldn't've taken a break there, could ya?"

A surprised chuckle escaped from Rift before she turned to Cass, her eyes bright as she looked at her oldest friend.

"What, and miss all the action? Never." Rift shook her head, amber and copper tendrils of her hair shaking loose of her low ponytail.

Cass huffed and crossed her arms. Irritation sharpened her next words. "You're killing yerself like this, you know." Rift expected this; it was an argument they'd had many times before in several different iterations. She knew Cass worried about her, about her power spikes and her drains, but there were few times she could turn down a request for help. To her, it was a given - she had this power and if she could save someone, even just one person, there was no question. In the great scheme of things, she knew her life was inconsequential, her days numbered. The nature of her power was just so volatile and destructive, that every time she could turn a disaster around, save a life, heal someone... it all this counted against all the darkness in her past that roiled in her, tormenting her, beating against her head, whispering her to _let go of her control and just let her power consume her..._

Seeing firsthand how her power decimated her home, had corrupted the Guild, and had killed her family and friends made her resolute. She would use her power to build, to protect, to _help_ as much as she could before it eventually overtook her. It was only a matter of time, really. The lessons she was learning from Loki were helping, but they succeeded in only delaying the inevitable. In all her research, she'd never found anyone with her 'gift' that lived past the age of 14; Rift had turned 26 (at her best estimation) earlier this year.

And she wouldn't be dissuaded.

"Cass, you know..." she started quietly.

A huff of breath answered her. "Yeah, I get it. 'Doing good, saving worlds'... It's all horseshit if you don't take care of yourself."

Rift shook her head. "It isn't, and you know it."

"Really?" Cass turned to her then, looking straight at her friend. The toll of the last few days was starting to fade, but she could still see the deep circles under Rift's eyes, the pallid tone of her skin. "Then why do all this, anyways?" she asked, gesturing towards the house.

"All what?"

"What do you mean, _what_?" Cass asked, her temper increasing her voice. "You don't remember? Kidnapping a real-life mass-murdering demi-god from the goddamn **Avengers** just so you can get some help? Not like we're not hunted enough by the Guilds, now the bloody Avengers are hunting us down now, too! And just when they find us, you decide to hie off and help another lost soul, nearly killing yourself **again**... what were you thinking?"

"I..."

"And let's not even _broach_ the elephant in the room."

"Wha..?"

"Rift..." Cass sighed before looking down. She folded her hands in her lap and took a breath, trying to figure out how to approach this. "Look, s'not my business, yeah? But Loki was worried about you, when you were out last. He kept watch over you, making sure you were all right. If he wasn't watchin' you, he was in my rooms botherin' me about how long you'd been out. He may be a murderin', rotten, scheming bastard... but you scared him." Cass turned away and looked over the water, refusing to admit her eyes were bright, tears of frustration pooling in their depths. "This thing you two have - whatever it is - you both have to be in it. I ken you didn't have the best of upbringings," Rift snorted as Cass continued, "but you have to know what it does to him when you wear out like you do."

Rift shook her head, disbelief clear on her face. Cass sighed, shifting in her chair before trying again.

"Say Loki went out one day - doesn't matter where - and comes back all beat to hell. What would you do?"

"Heal him." The words popped out of Rift's mouth.

"Say you do, but he goes out and does it again. And _again_. And _again_."

Understanding bloomed across Rift's face. She opened her mouth to retort, shut it, and opened it again. Nothing came out. She hung her head, finally understanding Cass' point.

"Cass... I'm sorry." Every time she'd drained herself, every time she'd dragged herself home to Cass completely spent, wrecked and in shambles, flew through her mind and the guilt hit her full-force. Her eyes began to water as she started to understand the pain she'd put her friends through over the years, the time they'd taken to nursing her back to health, the worry they'd had... all for her. She didn't understand their devotion, but she was starting to understand their pain.

Cass nodded. "I know you are." Rift leaned over and hugged her friend, spontaneously pouring her emotions into affection for her longtime friend. Rift pulled herself back up, looking at the cloudy sky. As she sifted through the events of the past few days again with her newfound realization, she thought back to when she woke to Isthmus' call, and when she'd returned - the white mug filled with coffee at her nightstand.

"I owe him an apology, don't I?" Rift asked sheepishly.

Cass nodded. "Yup."

"Shit." Rift closed her eyes and teleported back into the house to begin searching for him.

* * *

_**Author's Note**_**: Still unemployed, and not handling it well. Love you guys bunches - please read and review and such. **

**With reviews, I suck at calling y'all out and/or responding. I do love all the feedback I get, but if you've got a question or anything, feel free to message me. It feels weird calling folks out by name just for being awesome. (Though, if you'd like, I totally can.)**


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